Not as stupid as he looks
by All-For-You-Sophia
Summary: [Little Miss Sunshine] Dwayne thought he would never have a friend. That is until the new girl at his school takes a liking to him. But what happens when he feels more than just friendship for her.
1. Intro

**Disclaimer: **Of course I don't own any of the Little Miss Sunshine charters or plot. Enjoy.

It was a sunny Monday in Albuquerque, and the bus pulled up at its usual second to last stop, about one block away from the Hoover residence. Dwayne sighed as the bus pulled up in front of him. The start of another dreadful week, he thought to himself as the yellow death trap screeched to a halt in front of him and with a puff the doors slid open.

Dwayne was the first one at his stop to get on, like always, because he was always the first one at his stop. He would sometimes get there 20 minutes before anyone else. He didn't care about waiting so long, just as long as he didn't have to endure any more of Richards 9 steps babble.

All the kids gawked at him as he mindlessly sobered to the back of the bus. They all thought he was a freak. But that didn't really matter to him that no one liked him. He hated them all anyway.

It had been about two weeks since he took his vow of silence. But no one at school even noticed. It had been even longer than two weeks that he had stopped talking at school. The teachers didn't call on him anymore, or expect him to do any oral reports or even group assignments. After at least 10 referrals for insubordination, they all learned there lesion. All the kids at school avoided him. Which was what he wanted. Because what attention meant before was getting bullied and beat up. But that stopped awhile ago also when he started working out and winning fights. He was used to the quiet life now. Staying on the fringe, not really interacting with anyone unless he absolutely had to.

He reached the back of the bus, and his usual seat, which was empty, like always. He sat down by the window and gazed out at the green flamingo covered lawns. He didn't know when the bus started moving again. Time didn't really matter to him anymore. He was only aware of the fact that time moved too slowly.

The bus screeched to a halt again, he was only aware of this because his backpack fell onto the floor in the process. He reached down to get it and positioned it this time between his feet.

He watched the familiar faces pile on the bus, only for lack of anything better to do. After everyone had taken there usual seats, the bus still didn't move.

'_Come on…_' he thought. Everyone was already on the bus, why weren't they moving! Even though he hated school, he did still like to be on time. Then he noticed an unfamiliar face bob onto the bus. A new kid… wow. He was surprised he hadn't heard anything about her. Usually at Tinstone High School, rumors started about the kids before they even arrived in town. Not that he purposefully overheard peoples gossip. What he overheard usually came in accidentally when he was trying to block it out.

The girl looked extremely nervous as she passed row after row of crowded seats. She was averaged height. Her long brown hair was braided on each side of her head. Her clothes looked normal enough, although they weren't some high profile mall brand. So she wouldn't be fitting in with the preps then.

There was a little game he liked to play whenever there was a new student. He decided what social group they would fit in before they even talked to anyone. His calculations were usually correct.

For this new prey of Tinstone High, he figured she would get to know the artsy kids pretty well, but also have a good variety of other friends.

As she neared the back of the bus, unable to find an empty seat or a friendly face, Dwayne became painfully aware that the only open seat was next to him.

He immediately started hyperventilating. What would he do? He just hoped she was one of those shy kids, too afraid to talk to strangers. But before another thought crossed his mind, she stopped in the aisle, right at the end of his seat and looked at him.

Her eyes were bright blue, her kind face painted with the fear or rejection.

"Is this seat taken?" She asked in a wobbly voice. Dwayne just shook his head no. She promptly sat down next to him setting her brown canvas bag on the floor.

The bus began moving again, and Dwayne gazed out the window. He felt her gaze burning the back of his neck. It made him uncomfortable. But he didn't want to be rude either. He didn't want to become what he hated in someone else's eyes. Especially when she hadn't done anything wrong.

He turned sitting in his seat looking forward. He could see her in his peripheral vision. She was a very pretty girl. The only thing that really meant to him was that all the jocks would be hanging all over her by the end of the day.

He inhaled deeply and looked at her. He was almost positive his expression was a mix of disgruntled and annoyance.

"I'm Hannah." She said, this time her voice didn't crack with fear. She stared deeply into his eyes waiting for a reply.

He sat up and yanked his notepad from his back pocket. He pulled the pen out of the spiral and flipped the cover up. He quickly scribed _Dwayne _on it and held it out for her to see.

"Nice to meet you Dwayne." She said smiling. "So, you don't talk?" He shook his head no. "Why?"

He wrote on his notepad _Because I took a vow of silence_ _until I join the air force academy._

"So you want to be a pilot?" He nodded again. "That's cool."

Her reaction took him aback. That was a reaction he hadn't gotten yet. Richard was mad. Sheryl tried to talk him out of it. Olive was confused, and when they went to see Richards's dad, he just thought he was an idiot. But understanding it. That was a new one.

He was starting to like this girl.

"What grade are you in?"

_10th _

"Me to! I wonder if we'll have any classes together."

_Can I see your schedule?_

"Sure." She said reaching into her back pocket and retrieving the folded white piece of paper.Dwayne took it and quickly scanned it. He noticed a few similarities between hers and his memorized one. They would have Gym together along with Health, Art, and History.

He took his pen and marked next to each corresponding class. He also noticed they would have the same lunch, so he marked down that they she would have A lunch.

"Wow look at all the classes we have together," she brimmed with excitement. He nodded in agreement, but other than that didn't show any other signs of amusement.

He hadn't notice the time fly by, but they were pulling into the school's parking lot. They didn't say anything else to each other as the bus pulled to a stop and all the kids stood before the doors even opened.

He stuffed his notepad into his pocket again and heaved his bag off the floor. He and Hannah were the last ones off the bus. They walked into the school building together and he absentmindedly started walking towards his first hour, forgetting he had picked up a stray.

"Dwayne!" She called after him. He jumped in surprise at how quickly he had already forgotten about her. He turned and saw the sad and confused look on her face and he felt bad. "Can you help me find my class?" She asked him in her shaky voice again, as if she was afraid of him. She held out her schedule to him.

He walked back to her and took her schedule. He scanned the first line and started walking towards her first class, which happened to be Geometry, on the second floor. He stopped at the door to her room and motioned with his arm that they were there.

"Thank you for helping me find my class." She said. He nodded with an emotionless expression. "So, is Albuquerque everything they say it is?" She asked smiling. She was so hopeful.

Dwayne pulled out his pad again. _Only if they've said it's the most boring town on earth._

"That bad, huh." Dwayne nodded sadly. A loud bell sounded threw out the school signaling 6 minutes until class started. "Well, I guess I'll see you next period then. That is if I can find it."

_Just go straight down this hall till you reach the first staircase and take it to the third floor. Every room and the name of the teacher above it, and a number by the door. Shouldn't be that hard to find._

"Yeah, it sounds easy enough. But this school is a lot bigger than my last one." Dwayne nodded once but didn't 'write' any response. "I guess I'll see you next period then."

Hannah went silently into her classroom and Dwayne wondered back to his computer technology class. The class flew by faster than he had anticipated. He made it to History in good time and noticed Hannah wasn't there yet.

But, as soon as he took his seat, in the very back, there she was standing in the door way, with that unsure expression of hers. Her eyes soon found him, and her face lit up. She hurried to the front of the room, and down the row next to his and paused at the seat beside him.

"Is this seat taken?" Dwayne shook his head no. No one ever sat next to him if they could help it. He was glad for his classes without seating charts, or over crowding. That way he didn't have to endure hate filled stares, like it was his fault.

It took him a few moments to realize she hadn't started talking again. He felt like he should start a conversation with the only one in Tinstone High School that would give him the time of day. He pulled out his pad and scribbled the only way he knew to start a conversation with someone he didn't really know.

_How was you last class? _

"It was okay. The teacher loves to talk. I accidentally sat in some girl's seat." She didn't have to say anymore. Dwayne knew how she felt, he had seen these types of scenes play out for years. "I don't think anyone likes me here." So that's why she was so sad.

_That's not true. I think your okay._

"Really?" She asked. He could see the gleam of hope in her eyes. He merely nodded his head. "So, is this teacher easy?"

_Only Heck Yes! It's okay. Just a lot of busy work._

"That's the work I like the best. I hate giving presentations. When everyone just stares at you. I get so nervous."

_Me too._

"So, what do you like to do, Dwayne?" He raised an eyebrow at her question. "In your spare time. You know, for fun."

_Read Exercise Think_

"Exercise huh? Well, you do look strong." Dwayne couldn't help but smile, pleased that someone could notice things about him. He felt his cheeks burn a little, and he sqwermed in his seat. A new feeling was washing over him. Something he had suppressed for years. He folded his arms over his chest, trying to suppress what he was feeling as he tried to pay attention to what she was saying.

"Well, then again everyone looks strong to me. I'm such a weakling. I'm surprised I can even lift my pencil." Hannah lifted her pencil off the desk and waved in the air before dropping it onto the desk again. "Woo! What a workout!"

Dwayne laughed at her silliness. She had a sense of humor, which was good.

"So, please tell me the gym teacher here is easy." He shook his head no, sadly. "Ugh! Don't tell me, how bad is it?"

_He's a drill sergeant. Brutal. I personally don't think he's that bad, but then again, I'm stronger than you weaklings._

Dwayne laughed as he wrote the last bit, but Hannah didn't smile as she read his words. She pretended to sob and laid her head on the desk. But she looked up at him when she asked, "So how many fatalities so far this year?"

_Let's just say they drop like flies. _

Hannah laughed. "Let's talk about something else. So, what do you like to read?"

_Nietzsche _

"Right, Nietzsche! Of course! Who's Nietzscheagain?"

_Only the greatest writer ever_

"Well, you don't need to tell me his life story."

_A Philosopher. His out looks on life intrigue me_

"Thinking deep, interesting." That's when class started. Dwayne hadn't heard the bell ring, then again he wasn't really listening for it.

The lecture today was over the beginning of the Civil War. He quietly paid attention, but he found it wasn't undivided like every other day. Today was different. That was for sure. Maybe he could be wrong. Maybe he couldn't predict people personalities. Maybe there was more to people. Some people. Maybe…


	2. Ice Cream!

History was over before Dwayne realized it.

_Do you need a chaperone to your next class or do you think you can handle it?_

Dwayne quickly wrote before he gathered his things.

"Umm… I don't even remember what I have. Let me look." She got out her schedule as they migrated to the door. "English. Second floor. No, I think I can find my way. See you in lunch!" And then she was gone. Not forever or anything, but disappeared in the middle of a crowded hallway gone.

Dwayne thought little of it or anything else as he meandered his way back to the first floor to the science rooms for Chemistry. The class was boarding and it flew by. Now it was time for lunch.

The cafeteria was right next to the science rooms so he didn't have that far to go. He was early, like always. The sea of empty tables spread out in front of him like soldiers in an army waiting to be given there marching orders.

He stood in line to get his food. Only a few people were in front of him. The quietness of the lunch room penetrated everything. It was unnerving. But he could hear the far off roar of the student body making there way here. Stampede much?

It was pizza day today. Like every Monday. He knew the school didn't have an original bone in its fictional body to ever change anything. As he brought his Styrofoam tray to the front of the line the lunch lady punched a few buttons into her little computer and waved him on. He didn't have to pay anything because he was on reduced lunch. Reduced lunch was for families who didn't have a large income, in his case only one parent with a minimum wage supporting two children and a husband.

Dwayne wandered to his usual lunch table where he ate alone. He took a bite of his food and cracked open his bottle of milk. Yeah, a few months ago they upgraded the milk from cartons to bottles. He was shocked that they trusted them with plastic! At least it was better than the little milk sacks that they gave them in elementary school.

"There you are!" He heard Hannah call from behind him. "You seriously blend in, man. I though maybe I was in the wrong lunch for awhile." She sat down next to him. He saw that she had a pink piece of paper held up to her face. "Look what I found! A map of the school." She waved the paper in front of his face before she laid it flat on the table and bent over studding it. "This school is huge! You have 3 floors, a basement, a pool, and two gyms! Two floors is one of the gyms. Wow! A baseball field. Tennis court. Indoor and outdoor track. Football field. A concert hall! A technology lab. Art rooms. This school is far larger than my last haunt. You should have warned me."

_Sorry. I'm used to it. You will be too, I hope._

"Yeah, you and me both. I'm starving. I'm going to go out on a limb and say they serve food at this school too. I'm going to go get in line. Watch my seat!" Hannah dashed off to the nearest line. Dwayne laughed to himself. Watch her seat. Who would want it? No one ever sat near him if they could help it.

By the time she came back he had finished his lunch.

_Long line?_

"Shut up!" Hannah said tossing her tray on the table and setting down.

_But I didn't **say **anything._

"HaHa, very funny. I didn't know there were this many people in your school."

_It's your school too now._

"Right, right. You're in my next class if I'm not mistaken. So what do we have?"

_Art_

"Art! I love art!" Hannah said with her mouth full.

_Me too._

"Are you a good artist?"

_I have no idea. Pretty good, I think. The art teacher likes my work, when I do it._

"So the class is easy?"

_Let me put it this way: Even if you don't turn in anything the whole year, you could still pass with a B._

"So, this means…"

_Art is basically a resource. _

"Nice, so what do you usually do?"

_Read, occasionally do work._

"What do you plan on doing today?" She asked with a hint of something deep in her voice.

_Dazzle you with my charm_

"Give me the old Razzle Dazzle, huh. I don't think you need to though. You've already won me over, Romeo." She laughed at her harmless joke. That's when everyone in the lunchroom got up and made there way towards the exits. Signaling the end of lunch. Or at least there lunch, there were 3 lunch periods, a half hour long each. "Is lunch over already?" Hannah asked quickly stuffing the last of her lunch in her mouth.

_Yeah, they let us out early from lunch, enough time to get to our class so we won't be run over by B lunch kids._

"But I'm still hungry." Hannah pouted. She looked around and noticed the schools snack bar. "I'm going to go get a snack. The art teacher doesn't mind if we eat in her room does she?"

_Not in the least. See you there. _

"Alrighty. Until then." And she was off again. As Dwayne left he tossed out his tray. His walk to art was its usual boring tan wall adventure. The Art room was large the tile floors and high black ceilings, although the room was very bright with white and yellow walls. There were actually two art rooms. One that had to do with painting and art that went in the same category and the other class dealt with 3D art. Both rooms always smelt like must and woodchips. A sent he had long since come to associate with the school. Although the entire school didn't smell like woodchips, or paint, it did smell like must.

Dwayne sat at his usual beat up wooden table on whatever mini stool was the closest. He sat there for a moment staring off into space not really seeing the messy room but whatever figment of happiness his mind had dreamt up for this short moment.

He signed deeply as the bell sounded in his ears. He knew another would follow in about a minute. The lunch bells were always shorter. He looked up just in time to see Hannah come skipping into the room. She held two small Styrofoam cups in her hand, one balanced on top of the other. The top one was open and she had a spork dangling from her mouth. As she approached she stuck the spork into the ice cream.

"Hello Dwayne. Look what I brought you. Ta-da! Ice cream!" She set the second small cup in front of him.

_I don't really like sweets. But thanks._

"Oh come on. Sugar rocks!" She said tossing her second spork that was still in its plastic wrapper in front of him and taking the seat next to him. It was a taller stool so she sat up higher than him.

Dwayne just stared at the ice cream. It made him wonder if people could really blow stuff up with there minds. Not that he wanted the power or anything. If he did have it, it would be more like a curse. Accidentally setting fire to the math test he failed, blowing up the VW in there garage that they never used yet he constantly had to wash, due to Richards orders. He didn't know yet if that would be on purpose or an accident. Maybe both.

The second bell sounded, bringing him out of his pointless thoughts. He looked over at Hannah and wondered if she had said anything he had missed. It didn't seem so, she was currently taking in the room and eating her ice cream. He had to try harder not to let his mind wander, especially now that he had someone to pay attention to. He wasn't used to not being alone.

He opened the ice cream in front of him and continued to stare at it. Then he took out his pad and wrote…

_Maybe you should tell the teacher your here. Since she never takes attendance or anything. _

"Good idea. Where is she, I don't see her anywhere?"

_Try her office. In the back. _He pointed around a half wall.

Hannah set her ice cream down and wondered off without a word. Dwayne couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before she left him and forgot all about him. How long would it be before he lost this partial friend too? The though made him sad. He didn't know why. He liked being alone. And she was sort of giving him a headache. But something deep inside of him said he would miss this new headache when it was gone.

It wasn't long before he spotted Hannah return with Mrs. Ives. She was currently explaining to her what project they were doing. Dwayne had to think for a moment before he remembered what the project was. It was some Zen hippy thing, like paint a self portrait, but don't paint yourself, paint what is on the inside.

"Paint what's on the inside. What you feel." Mrs. Ives was explaining to Hannah.

"Alright. Where's the paper at?"

"On the table over there." Mrs. Ives pointed out. "So have you made any new friends?" Here we go. Dwayne though. Mrs. Ives loves to talk. That's one reason why she didn't like him too awful much, because he wouldn't talk to her. Otherwise she liked him just fine.

"Oh, um, well, the only real friend I guess I've made would be Dwayne." Dwayne looked over and the mention of his name and immediately regretted it.

"Oh! Good for you dear. Stick with him he's a good kid." Then Mrs. Ives nudged Hannah in the side and winked at her. Dwayne could have died of embarrassment. He pushed his ice cream away and laid his head down on the table dramatically.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to put ideas in her head." Hannah apologized as she sat back down.

Dwayne sat up and reached for his notebook. _The ideas were already in her head. All she needed was an outlet, and you were the first to come by. Don't be sorry. She's a very imaginative person._

"I see. So what are you painting for your inner self?"

_No idea yet. Haven't started. I'll get to it, eventually. Maybe in the spring._

Hannah laughed and the mood was immediately lightened. "So who else do you hang out with?" Dwayne shook his head and her. "No one? Why?"

_Because I Hate Everyone… Except for you, maybe. I haven't made up my mind yet. _

"Well I fell very privileged to be in your presence. I think you're a wonderful person. I can't see why everyone else doesn't think the same. You haven't eaten any of your ice cream?"

Dwayne looked down at it again.

_It mocks me. _Dwayne wrote benevolently. This time Hannah bust out laughing. She had a lovely smile.

"I like your hair." Hannah said breaking her laughter. She ran her hand over his messy black hair.

_I like your braids._

He reached out his hand and playfully tugged the one nearest him.

"Oww…" Hannah lied. "Don't do that." She said jokingly swatting at his hand.

_So tell me about yourself._

So Hannah started enlightening him about where she used to live. It was some small town in the mountains. He couldn't pronounce the name. Like he would ever have a need to. More like he couldn't spell it if he tried. As she talked lovingly about her family and her friends back home, about her old home, Dwayne started slowly licking at his ice cream. The sweet taste stood out in wild contrast on his taste buds to the food he normally ate. After awhile he convinced Hannah to eat the rest of it. But she was full. All she managed was about a spoon full before she tossed it out.

The two of them spent the rest of art chatting and writing, getting to know each other better with light conversation. Even though he didn't know it, he was changing. Letting go of some of his fears and phobias. Maybe he could have a friend after all.


	3. Pudgy

**Author Note:** Thank you for all of the reviews! They really brighten my day. This chapter is really long. I just got really into writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Enough chit-chat. Enjoy!

Art Class ended far too soon for Dwayne's liking. He and Hannah had talked the whole period away. Well she talked he wrote.

"Oh no. Please don't tell me I'm heading to gym."

_No, its not gym. It's a class in the gym. It's a class that evolves physical exercise, and you might have to run a little or play some dodge ball. But I wouldn't say that qualifies as Gym. Or perhaps it does? But don't worry, it's not so bad._

Hannah pretended to burst into tears as they walked threw the halls.

_Perhaps you're right. Let's make a run for it._

Her fake tears turned into giggles, which made him smile.

"You know I'm actually crying right now. This is how I cry." Hannah said clearly laughing. Dwayne just smiled wider. He noticed some people gawking at them in the halls. He was surprised they weren't dropping dead at the surprise that someone would talk to him, and enjoy it.

They arrived at the gym sooner than he had anticipated. Maybe he should have taken her the long way there. But if he did that, she might get lost if she had to go on her own tomorrow, or the next day.

_This is the gym_

"It doesn't look as big as the map"

_That's because you're not upstairs yet. The large basket ball court is in the middle and is opened upstairs to look down into it. All the bleachers upstairs are stacked to make room for the four decks that we use for whatever horror they have though up for us on that particular day. There is a track upstairs that goes all the way around the outside of the stacked bleachers, and out the doors to the right is the tennis court and out the left doors is the larger track-four laps equals a mile as you will soon learn and the football field. _

"What about the pool and the smaller gym." Hannah asked as she walked to the metal grate that was down to keep us out of the good basketball court slash assembly hall when there was an emergency or they just didn't want us in the good assembly hall or the cafeteria ladies refused to lend there cafeteria to them. And even the Drama Theater didn't want us, the school met there.

_The pool is back the way we came, in the long white hall and the small gym is back that way too. But we never use it. Only when there's a sub or they just waxed the floors._

Hannah laughed. "Well, thanks for the tour. I will meet you upstairs in a few minutes." And she walled off. But it was more like dancing rather than walking. She had a wonderful grace about her. He went to the boy's locker room and quickly got dressed and put his note pad in the pocket of his gray shorts, desperately trying to ignore the retarded jokes the others guys were making.

He left the room quickly and started making his way to the nearest staircase. He started to pass some of his classmates when they called out to him.

"Hey Hoover!"

'Just ignore them. You remember what happened last time.' Dwayne told himself. Last time they had made fun of him he tackled the one kid and gave him a bloody nose. They dragged him to the vice principals office and called Sheryl. She wasn't surprised. Ever since she married Richard he had gotten in trouble a lot. She just sighed and took him home early. Richard was angry when he got home and made him wash the Bus for his punishment.

"What's wrong prissy boy? Forget to take your meds this morning?"

Who's prissy when they're the ones who shave there legs. He had slowed because of his anger, and when they passed they shoved him into the wall. When they weren't looking he flipped them off. If they had seen him, they surely would have pushed him further. And they would end up in a fight and he didn't want to be taken out of school. Not today.

He got upstairs and sat in his assigned spot on the cushiony floor. Hannah arrived soon after and smiled at him. He returned the smile but it soon faded when some of the other guys saw it and stared cooing and making stupid remarks. "The Hoover losers got himself a girlfriend." "Ohhh, Hoover tell us all about her."

Dwayne closed his eyes and tried to block them out. For once he was glad to hear the arrival of the Drill Sergeant Mr. Mallown signaled by his eat splitting whistle. "Stop your talking or we'll run today! I'm not obligated to give you a free day." Most of the kids quieted at his remark but a few others whispered to finish up their conversations. He had almost forgotten that Monday was free day, not Friday. Yes!

"Adler!" "Here" "Amosee'" "Here" "Bartlebe" "Hey" "Close" No Reply "Absent. Finnler" "Cheese" "Gard" "Yeah?" "Hoover" Dwayne raises his hand "Jameston" "Grunts" "Nice. Keckler" "What!" "Lane" "Here" "Montague. Montague!" "I'm right here!" said Tyler just now walking in. "Late. That's five laps." Tyler started walking towards his spot. "Now Montague! And don't let me catch you walking." Tyler took off running around the track. "Nate" "Huh" "Nuget. Absent. Peters." "Spain" "Cut it out! Rodgers!" "He dropped out!" Some random kid yells. "Yes, yes. Slone!" "Right here." "Vagest." "Oy."

"Okay you hooligans, two laps and then you can do was you please." Everyone groaned as they got to their feet. "Let's move it! Get off the floor!" Hannah approached him cautiously. "Oh Miss Eve, I've already gotten you. Tomorrow sit in between Close and Finnler. I see you don't need the lecture on uniform." He said noticing her attire, although Dwayne was sure he was a little disappointed when he realized he wouldn't be able to give it.

"Hoover! Move it! Your not going to loose that pudge with out a little movement!" Who the hell did he think he was talking to? He barely had enough fat to cover his bones. Crazy old man, who needs glasses. But Dwayne listened and took off onto the track. He easily passed two punk girls who though they were above running, and he heard Mallown yell at them. "No walking! I want to see some movement. Pick those legs up. There you go." Dwayne heard the girl's heavy footfalls of trying as he rounded the first corner. He was almost around the second bleacher before he head them round the corner and slow back to a walk. But he heard someone else running and turned his head to see Hannah trying to catch up to him. She caught his eye and he decided to make a game out of this. So he ran faster and easily gained speed, and passed others, either of the walking or slow running variety. He wondered if she was actually fast enough to catch him. As he rounded the third corner he glanced back and saw Hannah struggling way on the far end of the long deck. Dwayne sighed to himself and thought of the running partner he had just lost. No early morning jogs for them.

He reached the fourth turn quickly because every other deck was shorter, and he was back on the deck he had started on. "Good job, Hoover! One more!" Mallown yelled as he breezed by. He reached his first turn in no time and started to slow down a little loosing that burst of crazy energy he used trying to impress. He still had a great pace from all his personal conditioning. He passed more and more walkers on his second time around and caught up to the other runners that had started right away. He forced himself to use the last of his energy to pass the big group, not wanting to get stuck in their pack. As he reached his third turn he ran onto an empty deck, except for Hannah, who was struggling to maintain a jog.

As Dwayne passed her he smiled his most prize winning smile before he took off again. "Yeah, you better run, pudgy!" Hannah yelled after him. She had clearly heard Mr. Mallown's words.

As he turned his last corner he fell against the wall as he stopped trying to catch a breath that was miles away. Maybe next time he shouldn't push himself so hard. He didn't necessarily need to pass the rest of the class. At that moment Hannah jogged by and he realized her pace wasn't all that bad, it just seemed that way to his speed racer running. She just wasn't as fast as the rest of the class of runners.

She didn't say anything as she passed, but he knew she had seen him. He started to go after her but as soon as he left the wall for support he could feel jelly legs set in and he though better of it. He caught his breath and took a drink of water from the water fountain. It wasn't so much water as rust with water in it. It had a funny taste to it that was barely refreshing beyond the point that it was wet.

He forgot about Hannah for a moment as he fell back into his alone routine. He trudged down the stairs and went into the weight room. Another advanced gym class was already in progress in the room, but they were use to having visitors from the classes upstairs, so they rarely noticed them anymore. He went to the closest lift set and pulled out the stoppers and spun off the weights currently attached to the bar. He put on weights a little heavier, and laid down on the mat and began his first set.

He was halfway threw when he heard a bunch of guys in the room start whistling before being shushed by the teacher. He put the weight on the rack above him at sat up just in time to see Hannah run from the room and up the stairs.

Dwayne nonchalantly left the room and returned upstairs in search for Hannah. He easily found Hannah just starting a lone walk around the track. He snuck up behind her and tapped her left shoulder and ducked to the right as she looked to the left. When she spotted him she smacked him on the arm before she started explaining why 'that' wasn't funny. Although Dwayne laughed threw the entire speech, it just kept growing into an over exaggerated infomercial, and lasted at least 15 minutes. And got funnier every second.

_You should do infomercials. Like ones for knives and pie plates._

"And you too can own this honey colored cake plate for only 15 easy payments of 29.95! Call out toll free number now, and we'll throw in this wonderful set of stainless steel knives that have the wonderful capabilities of melting in your oven at 365 degrees and exploding in your microwave. Please no lawsuits, you have been warned, and were not liable for any fraudulent charges on your credit card. If anything it's that snippy neighbor of yours whom you've never liked." Hannah did her speech never bothering to modulate the fake overly happy voice. By the end of it Dwayne was practically in tears from laughing so hard. She did wonderful impersonations.

_So what do you think of gym so far? _Dwayne wrote when he finally regained the capabilities to write.

"I don't know, tell me what's tomorrow." Hannah said in her normal voice.

_Either kickball or baseball. _

"Then I hate it. And what is up with our gym teacher?"

_Where do you want me to start?_

"Why is free day on Monday?"

_Well, my theory is that he drinks a lot on the weekend and can't handle the florescent lights with a hangover. Secondly he needs to remember were not in World War two any more and thirdly I didn't think so before but now I think he needs glasses. _

"Yeah Pudgy." Hannah said poking his stomach that was barely visible under his shirt. "I think that will be your nick name."

_Please don't. Hoover is bad enough._

"Whatever you say, pudgy." Hannah said looking off into space. "Oh, I just came up with another infomercial. Want to hear it?" Dwayne nodded, bracing himself. "Wanna get rid of that Pooch? Use the Ab-master 5000!" And that was how they spent the rest of gym class that day.

When class was over they walked together to Health. The conversation had gone every which way, from pop tarts to the worst bumper stickers ever. Hannah won that one of course with **Honk if you are Elvis**.

_You've actually seen a bumper sticker that says that?_

Dwayne wrote as they entered the room.

"Yes, I actually have. I was going on a trip with my Dad, and when he saw it he honked. It was so funny. So, do I win?" Hannah batted her eyes at him. She wanted to win badly. See they bet over a weeks worth of buying the others lunch. Dwayne though he would win, but not after that comment.

_Yes…_

"Write it…" Hannah urged.

_You win._

"Yes I do! Thank you. So are there assigned seats in her?"

_Yep, you'll have to go talk to the teacher, winner._

"I guess I'll have to, pudgy." Hannah teased before bounding from the room leaving her books with him.

The teacher ended up making the whole class move back a seat to make room for her in alphabetical order. The teacher was a stickler about everything being in the correct spot, including her pupils. Hannah ended up sitting right next to Dwayne. Dwayne thanked the gods for putting this exact number of kids in between them.

Today's curriculum consisted of don't do drugs and do this –so easy a third grader could do it- work sheet where all you have to do is circle the little pitchers of the things you should stay away from. They even had enough time for a video meant to inspire.

All day classes flew by, but this class never seemed to end. But eventually the bell rang.

_I guess this is where we have to go our separate ways._

"But I fear I'll never see you again!" Hannah cried mimicking every movie that ever dare utter those words.

_I'm sure I'll make it to the bus after school. But if I don't see you again, I want you to have my pencil._

"I can't accept this." Hannah said being dramatic. She was very good at this. "Let's just say I'm keeping it safe for you, until I see you after school."

_Yes, let's. So what other classes do you have?_

"Biology and Drama class. I can't bloody wait!"

_So that's why you're such a good actress. And were not in bloody England, say Fuck when you curse._

"But, I'm not real comfortable swearing like that."

_I swear like that all the time. Or swore, when I did talk. And everyone knows that bloody means the 'F' word._

"Did you know in England kids aren't allowed to say bloody but their allowed to say bleed. And also, I think it's funny to watch the first Harry Potter movie because they say bloody hell a lot. Its just fun to watch it knowing there saying the English equivalent of the F word. I wonder why that movie isn't rated PG-13 for such language. Well, this is where I must leave you. Until then." Hannah said taking the stairs to the basement.

For Dwayne, the rest of the day seemed to drag threw his two worst classes, English and Geometry. When the last bell finally bleated he hurried to the bus. He was about the third person on the bus and he sat in the same seat he had sat in roughly 8 hours earlier. The bus started getting packed and there was no sign of Hannah. He looked out the window and spotted her coming out of the building talking with two girls he barely recognized as juniors. Artsy kids, there names eluded him, and probably for good reason. What did he think earlier? Maybe the rules still applied, even with an exception as big as he was.

Hannah soon bid the girls goodbye who got on other buses. She then hurried on their bus and scrabbled past the other kids still standing. She pushed past Dwayne and plopped into the seat beside the window. But before she even sat, she started telling him about how much she loved her Drama class. She informed him of the new friends she had made. And apparently the two girls she was talking to were Ali and Katie. She blossomed with excitement and even in sighted him to be excited for her. The bus finally started rolling along, and even though they were the last two stops in the morning, they were the last two stops at the end of the day as well.

Hannah yawned as she pulled out her cd player and put an ear bud in, offering him the other and he took it, a little curious as to what music such a girl would listen to. The music started and he listened as a techno kind of pop started playing. It wasn't half bad, and he didn't recognize it as something he had heard before. Then the vocals started. At first he though the singer was singing really fast, but then he caught on that they weren't singing in English.

_What language is this in?_

"German. I know, it's really weird. But I speak pretty good German."

_That's really interesting. Could you teach me? _

"I guess, but with your speech impediment, I don't know. But I could teach you how to understand the words and write them, I guess. Although I don't really know how to spell half the words I know. I bet I still have my German text book. I'll be your teacher!"

_Excellent. Say something in German._

"Ich denke Ihr nettes. Ruhiger Zickleinfelsen."

_What does that mean?_

"I think you're nice. Quiet kid's rock!" Hannah smiled at him.

Dwayne started to listen to the song. It had a great beat. It was a bouncy toon. He only wished he knew what they were saying. They could be saying anything for all he knew. The song ended and another started. This one was slower. It sounded like a sad song, and it was still in German. The only words he could understand were Gabbi and Klaus. He assumed the song was about them.

_What is this song about?_

"It's about this couple breaking up. It's really quite sad."

Dwayne nodded as Hannah put her feet up on the side of the bus and laid agents his arm. The bus made stops, songs changed and the meanings and words flooded together lost in translation. He would ask Hannah about it later.

Then they reached his stop. _My stop, got to go. _Dwayne wrote retuning her ear phone.

"See you tomorrow." Hannah said, waving goodbye and putting in the other earphone.

Dwayne drug his feet all the way to his house. As he opened the front door Sheryl called out o him. "Dwayne is that you!" He didn't answer as he shut the door behind him and started walking to his room. "I suppose so. I have to go get Olive, can you take out the trash? Thank you, sweetie."

Dwayne seethed threw his teeth as he tossed his bag on the floor and went to collect the trash. He heard the front door click shut as he drug the garbage bag out back. He spent the rest of his time until dinner in his room, reading, staring at the wall. Things he normally did.

Dinner was more painful than usual. Richard seemed to have made up a new speech during the day, and he couldn't wait until he had an audience. Dwayne ate his food quietly and had to sit threw the speech three times. Sheryl never would excuse him early. Sheryl asked him about his day. He just nodded. Olive spoke highly of her day, threw mouthfuls of mashed potatoes. Apparently she had had a sub and hadn't had to do anything all day.

Night finally came and he did his homework as quickly as possible before he went to bed. He though about Hannah and couldn't wait until morning. Hannah and Dwayne couldn't have been more different. She loved acting, he loved Nietzsche. She was full of happiness and energy, Dwayne was sad and didn't get excited about anything. But threw all there differences, they couldn't be more alike.


	4. Olive

The rest of the week flew by. Dwayne wondered where all the time had gone. Hannah started teaching him German. It was a lot harder than it looked, or sounded. When he first looked at the book she gave him, it all may as well have been Greek. All the words were long and looked very similar.

In turn, Dwayne had persuaded Hannah to read Nietzsche. He had loaned her his copy once she swore not to deface or hurt the book in any way shape or form. They had also exchanged telephone numbers, although Dwayne had no idea what good that could ever do.

It was Saturday morning. He had to baby sit Olive today. Like he did every Saturday. He got up early and knew Olive wouldn't be awake for a least another two hours. He got dressed quickly and sat in the living room trying to memorize the German words and there meanings. Although without Hannah he could only imagine what the words sounded like. 8:30 rolled around and he went to the kitchen and started making pancakes for Olive.

He always liked to cook for Olive, give her something decent to eat after a weeks worth of take-out. Or if his mom made him cook dinner some days in the week when she actually went to the grocery store.

The hotcakes were done roughly 25 minutes later. He went down to Olive's room while he warmed the syrup. Olive's room was an average little girl's room filled with toys, nick knacks, things she had 'borrowed' from him and nothing was put away.

He nudged Olive to wake her from her sleep. She groaned at him and turned away from him. He pushed her a little more and she started slapping at his hands.

"Just a little longer…" Olive wined.

_It's passed 9. Get up!_

He tossed his notepad on the bed in front of her. She tossed his pad back at him and started crawling to the other end of the bed away from him. She was going to be difficult today. So be it.

Dwayne kneeled on the bed so he could reach her, and started tickling her.

"Stop! No!!" Olive screeched as she wiggled in his arms. She started to crawl even further away from him so he picked her up and swung her out of bed. "Ahhh!" Olive playfully screamed. "I'm up now! Happy?" Olive said before she started pushing him towards the door so she could get dressed. Just to be mean he stood his ground and dug his heels into the carpet. "Go!!!!! You're so mean!! Ugh!!" Dwayne finally started walking towards the door with Olive pushing him from behind the whole way. He stood in the hall now, but before she slammed the door she threw his pad at him.

He picked it up and smiled as he walked towards the kitchen. He took everything to the table and started eating his breakfast. He looked at the clock, it had been 10 minutes since he had left Olive. She must have gone back to bed. He sighed as he started to get up but then he heard her bedroom door open and the sound of her running down the hall.

"Blueberry pancakes! My favorite!" Olive chirped when she saw what was on her plate. Breakfast was mostly silent, except for Olive who continued to tell him stories that she had heard during the week and telling him little 1st grader jokes. She was constantly trying to cheer him up. She even asked him when he was going to talk again. She had asked him the same question for three weeks straight. And he gave her the same answer he always had. I don't know.

As soon as Olive was done with breakfast she retired to her usual spot in front of the TV to watch her usually Saturday morning cartoons. Dwayne washed the dishes before joining her. He watched some of the cartoons with her. But after awhile Bugs Bunny starts to ware thin on your patience, so he started thumbing threw the German book again.

After an hour or so, Dwayne drug her away from the screen, forcing her to go outside and play in the sun, due to Sheryl's orders. Because he really didn't care what she did all day.

Dwayne opened the garage door and she grabbed her jump rope and took it out in the driveway. He pulled a lawn chair out into the yard and started reading more in the German book. After a few minutes Olive got tired of jump rope and got out a basket ball and started playing with that. Every so often she got Dwayne to go chase a ball that went in the street. Because she had been warned enough times not to go chasing after a ball in the street.

Dwayne was currently trying to memorize the possessive words when he heard Olive scream. His adrenaline shot threw his body like a bullet as he sprung from his chair. Olive was sitting on the driveway clutching her knee and crying. Apparently she must have tripped.

As Dwayne got to her, he picked her up and carried her inside. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and cried into his shoulder. He sat her on the kitchen counter and got an icepack out of the freezer to keep her calm while he dashed to the bathroom to get the antibacterial medicine and a large band aid. He wetted a towel and dabbed at her scrapped knee. She barely broke the skin, but she would probably have a nice welt by tomorrow.

"Is it broken?" Olive cried. Dwayne was pretty sure it wasn't but he had to check anyway. He rubbed his thumbs over the skin, and all he felt was solid bone underneath. Olive hissed in pain and cried some more.

_It isn't broken._

"Are you sure?" Olive said sniffing. He nodded. He rubbed the medicine on her cut before applying the large band aid. He returned the icepack to her knee and handed her a tissue.

_Does it feel better now?_

"A little." Olive said. She wasn't crying anymore, but her face was all red. Dwayne went to the freezer to get the simplest cure he knew for scraped knees. Popsicles.

Olives face immediately brightened when she saw it. He ripped the paper off and handed it to her. He cleaned up the little mess he made, and when he returned Olive was happily sucking the popsicle. When she saw him she held out her hands to him, and Dwayne lifted her off the counter and set her on the floor. She bounded out the front door and Dwayne knew she was just fine.

Dwayne followed her outside and she informed him that she wanted to draw with her chalk. As he was retrieving the bucket filled with multi colored chalk from the cobwebbed corner the phone rang.

"I got it!" Olive called dashing to the wall phone in the garage. "Hello. Yes, he's here. He's not talking right now. Do you want to come over? Were about to chalk draw."

_Who are you talking to? _

"None of your business Dwayne!"

_Give me the phone!_

"Now! That's great. Yeah, he's excited. _Get away! No, I'm using the phone! _See you then." And olive hung up the phone.

_Who were you talking to?_

"Your new friend from school, Hannah. She's coming over to play with us."

_What!!_

"Isn't it great?" Dwayne grabbed his little sister and started giving her a noogie. "Let me go!" He did after she dug her nails into his arm. "You're so mean, Dwayne."

Dwayne sat with Olive on the driveway drawing with chalk, idly awaiting Hannah's arrival. Olive meant well, but she wasn't in high school and didn't know what it meant for a girl to come to your house. He could only imagine what Sheryl would say when she came home. He hadn't told his family that he made a new friend. Olive didn't seem to notice anything. All she saw in Hannah's phone call was someone else to play with her. Dwayne desperately wanted to know how the next few hours would play out.

As this thought crossed his mind, a shiny black Volvo pulled up in front of their house. The passenger door popped open and Hannah got out. She wore her hair loose today. It was the first time Dwayne had seen it down all week. She looked nice.

Hannah turned and said something to the driver then shut the door as the car peeled away. Olive bounced up and ran to Hannah.

"Hi! Your Hannah right?"

"Yes I am. You must be Olive. Dwayne has told me a lot about you."

"What did he say?" Olive questioned shooting a dark look at Dwayne.

"Well, he told me you liked to dance."

"I love to dance! Do you like dancing?"

"I do. I used to take dance classes when I was your age."

"Wow. Do you want to draw? Dwayne and I were just starting to chalk draw."

"I used to love to chalk draw. Let's get to it. Oh, wait. Before I forget. I brought something for you, Olive." Dwayne just then noticed that she had a brown canvas bag swung over her shoulder.

"You did! What, what!" Olive said hopping up and down. Hannah pulled out a pair of golden high top shoes that looked just Olive's size. He could tell the bottoms were slightly worn, with some scuffs here and there. But other than that, they looked pretty good. Olive didn't seem to notice the small imperfections and her eyes grew to the size of walnuts gawking at the shoes.

"When I used to dance, I wore these shoes. I obviously can't fit them anymore. I hope you like them."

"I love them!" Olive said grabbing the shoes away from her and sitting down the pavement, yanking her shoes off to put them on.

"I hope they fit." Hannah said smiling, glad that Olive liked them. But then again, Olive would have been ecstatic no matter what the gift.

_Olive what do you say…_

Dwayne hinted. "Thank you!" Olive said as she pulled the second shoe on. "There perfect!" Olive got back up and hugged Hannah. "Thank you."

"You're more than welcome."

So then they started drawing.

_You know you didn't have to bring her something. She's spoiled enough as it is._

Dwayne wrote. They were drawing a pitcher together, and Olive was doing one on her own, after screaming that Dwayne was 'doing it wrong.'

"I wanted to. Really." She added after Dwayne gave her a skeptical look. "She a sweet little girl."

_Yeah, you should have seen the 'sweet' girl this morning when I drug her out of bed. But I really do love her though. She's the only innocent one in our household. So have you finished with my book yet?_

"Are you really that desperate to read it again?"

_Yes_

"Well, I'm not done yet. Only half way. So, keep your shorts on, I'll try to be done by Monday."

_So, why did you want to come over her?_

"Well, my mom didn't want to leave me home alone, and here was the first place I thought of going. So are your parent's home?"

_There at work. Or at least Mom is._

"I'm tired of this game. Let's go inside." Olive complained. Dwayne looked over and saw that she had drawn a smiley face and a pretty mermaid. Then he looked down at what Hannah and he had been drawing. There was a tree and a house that ended up by a beach that was currently under an alien invasion. He laughed, barely remembering drawing it.

When they went inside Olive had then play Uno, slap jack, and pretty pretty princess. Dwayne could have died with embarrassment when Olive forced him to wear all the plastic jewelry. Hannah giggled looking at him, the funky clip on earrings dangling from her ears.

Once they were done, Dwayne had the task of putting all the games away while Olive chatted with Hannah, when he returned, however, they weren't in the living room. He eventually found them in Olive's room. When he opened the door Olive shoved him out again saying 'girl's only'. He heard Hannah laughing hysterically inside. He sat outside the door for awhile, trying to listen in, but the door was too thick, and he thought they were whispering too. What were they talking about! Him, most likely. What was she saying about him? What was Olive telling her?

He made another try at the door only to be met by at least 5 stuffed animals flying in his direction. So he retired to the living room to plot a way in. But they emerged minutes later because Olive was ready for him to make her lunch.

He made them all sandwiches, Olive's no crust. During the whole of lunch, Hannah kept looking at him and smiling for no reason.

_So what do you guys talk about in 'girl's only'?_

"You" Olive said.

_What did you say about me?_

"You'll never know."

_Now I want to know even more._

"Tough noodles! How much longer until mommy comes home?"

_Three hours_

"Yippy! That means we can have more fun with Hannah. She doesn't have to go home until 7."

They finished the rest of there lunch with light conversation. On the way to the backyard Olive was showing Hannah the yellow band-aid on her knee.

"See that. I got that this morning. It was horrible. But Dwayne saved me. He played doctor and made it all better. And I got a Popsicle!"

"I didn't know Dwayne was so talented."

"Yeah, my big brother is awesome. I have the best brother ever." Dwayne smiled as he followed them out the back sliding glass door. They played freeze be and then they went to the front of the house to play basketball. Two agents one. Olive had picked Dwayne to be on her team because he was stronger and she was sure to win with him on her team.

They played for a long time, and of course Olive was ecstatic because she was winning and Dwayne found out that Hannah was horrible at B-ball. The sun was beginning to go down. He grabbed Hannah's arm and held it up so he could look at her watch.

_Mom will be home in a half hour. Go inside and wash up, Olive._

"No I want to stay out here." Olive complained trying another shot and missing.

_You can watch TV._

"Okay" and Olive didn't say another word as she disappeared inside the house. Dwayne got the basketball and tossed it in the garage, making sure it hit the bus, and then he shut the door.

"You know you are so sweet with your sister." Hannah said as they walked to the back yard.

_So what did she tell you about me?_

"Oh, nothing." Hannah said threw fits of giggles as she remembered.

_Yeah right. What was that? Tell me. _

"Oh lots of Simi embarrassing things. Like you talk in your sleep, black is not your natural hair color that it used to be brown. All of your boxers are plaid. And she told me about her last birthday party." Hannah stopped there as she was laughing too hard. Dwayne knew what she had told her. On Olives last birthday, he was outside and was coming in and walked straight into the glass door. Olive had said seeing him do that was her best birthday present.

Once Hannah had stopped laughing, they continued to the back yard.

_So what did she ask you?_

"She wanted to know if I liked you liked you."

_What did you say?_

"I said you were a lovely boy. And to tell you the truth, even though Olive won, you were the prettiest princess." Hannah started laughing again.

_No you were the prettiest._

"Stop. You're embarrassing me. Continue." Hannah said giggle as she pretended to be conceded.

_Well, your hair is pretty. And your pretty, hot. You smell nice. You have a great complexion. _

"Okay that's enough. You are starting to sound like a stalker. Hey, you're the shadow I saw outside my window last night!" Hannah said playfully.

_Oh, you know it._

Dwayne said wrapping his arms around her shoulder. She squealed and backed away from him. He laughed as he starting climbing the wooden fence into the neighbors' yard.

"Be careful." Hannah said. Oh yes, the freeze be game ended on a count of it getting stuck in the neighbors tree. And of course Olive couldn't wait for them to get it down.

The neighbor's tree was right up agents the other side of the fence so he just stated climbing up the tree once on top of the fence. The freeze be wasn't much higher than the fence so he reached it easily and tossed it to Hannah. They went inside and watched TV with Olive. It wasn't long before Sheryl came home.

"Olive what are your shoes doing in the driveway?" Sheryl called from the front door. Dwayne heard her drop her keys in the bowl and deposit her bag.

"Hannah gave me new shoes." Olive said her eyes never leaving the TV.

"Who's Hannah?" Sheryl asked coming into the living room. Sheryl spotted Hannah sitting on the couch next to him. "Who are you?"

"It's Hannah mom. Dwayne's new friend at school. She needed somewhere to hang for the day. So I invited her over." Olive looked up from the TV and started telling Sheryl all about everything they had done. Then once Sheryl turned her attention on Dwayne she went back to the TV.

"Dwayne you have a new friend and you haven't told me about her." Sheryl was grinning from ear to ear as Hannah got up and introduced herself and explained how she and just moved to town. "So when are you expected home."

"My dad is coming to get me at 7."

"So you have a little more than an hour. Well, dinner will be shortly. I brought take out. Dwayne can I see you in the kitchen."

Hannah watched TV with Olive as she tried to ignore the one way conversation coming from the kitchen. Sheryl was a little angry that he hadn't clued her in about his new friend, but then again was happy that he had a friend. And she could also hear the edge in her voice that hinted towards more between them.

Dwayne stormed out of the kitchen a moment later and plopped down on the couch next to her. "All I'm saying is that you need to start telling me things. It's not good to keep it all in."

"Mom, you gotta chill." Olive said staring unblinkingly at the TV. I guess that's what they got for letting her watch MTV Cribs.

"Olive, turn the TV off and go play in your room." Sheryl said putting her hand to her head as if she was a little flustered.

"Fine." Olive said shutting it off and stalking to her room.

_Come, I'll show you my room._

Hannah followed Dwayne to the opposite end of the house down a wood panel hallway. He opened the first door that had a little do not disturb plaque nailed into it. The room had white walls, his desk was covered in art supplies and pencils. His plaid bedspread reminded her of what Olive had told her and she giggled. The ceiling was covered in silver poofy stuff. It was shiny. They didn't do a whole lot once there. They went over some German words. It wasn't long before Dwayne's mom called them all to dinner. There was a man there she hadn't seen before. She could only assume it was Richard, Dwayne's step father. He greeted her kindly. Apparently Sheryl had already filled him in on the whole situation.

Dinner went slowly, there was chicken, and baked potatoes, restaurant style. Richard told her all about his program called the 9 steps. But thankfully she was excused early from this when she heard her Dad honking his horn out in the street.

"That's my dad. Got to go. Thank you all for everything. I'll see you Monday Dwayne." And she left.

Her father didn't press much about how her day went when she got in the car. But she knew her mother would want to know everything. She though back over her day, and couldn't help but think that maybe she did like him, like him.


	5. Three is a crowd

**Author Note: Just to answer one of your questions – the whole why does Dwayne go by Hoover and not his original last name? It's just the fact that when Sheryl got remarried she took her husbands last name, and when she signed Dwayne up for school the next year she wrote that as his last name. He hates it, but there's not a whole lot he can do about it. That's why he says '_Hoover is bad enough' _when referring to nick names. Anyway, enough of that. I'm really glad you liked my last update, because I though it sucked really, and could have been a lot better. Anyway, sorry for boring you all with my chatter, on to the story!**

Monday came far too quickly and Hannah so wasn't ready to buckle down and do work. Her only relief from this horrible day was Dwayne. They spent their lunch helping her with her lines for Drama class. They were doing Shakespeare at the moment and she was having problems with the type of speech.

_Just stop right there. It was horrible._

"Hey!" Hannah said.

_You keep forgetting to say thy and thou. And your supposed to be a fairy, but you sound angry._

"Well I am angry for you stopping me every 5 seconds to add your 2 cents!" Hannah yelled threw gritted teeth so no one else would hear.

_Well, if you ever want to get this right, you need to try and listen to my advice! Your trying out for A Midsummer's night dream, right? _

"Yes, I really hope I make it."

_Then your going to need all the help you can get, so let's go from line 35 again. _

"But we've went over that one like 50 times already! I'll be reciting it in my sleep!"

_Well, it's the one that sounds like a train wreck, so do it again._

Hannah said the line again. Dwayne threw his head back dramatically as she stumbled over the lines again.

_Olive could do this better than you. Seriously. It's not aren't you him! It's are you not he! You Not He!_

"Fine! You not he." She said in a mocking voice.

_One more time, line 35._

Hannah groaned as she started reciting the paragraph again from memory. And of course she got flustered by the end and said Aren't you him?

Dwayne balled his fits before yanking on his hair as if her constant mistake was killing him. He grabbed his pad and quickly wrote _Are you not He?_ Largely and messily on the paper before grabbing her arm and shaking her lightly to stress his point.

"Breath Dwayne, it's okay. Take the blood pressure down a notch."

_From line 35._

"Ugh!!!!!"

Monday turned to Wednesday quickly and Dwayne had finally coached Hannah into saying everything the PROPER way. The fairy's dialog was finally flawless, in speech anyway. Now Hannah was working on getting into character. Today she had worn thigh high green and dark green socks so she would be at one with the character.

The period was art and Hannah's belly was filled with taco meat, the special on Wednesday's, although it wasn't so special. Hannah was studying her lines in her play book and freaking about auditions that were still two weeks away.

Dwayne was working on his art project that supposedly reflected his innards. He had painted a black heart, with some black birds and a large black tree. She wondered if Black was his favorite color.

It was about the middle of the period when Hannah looked up from her book when she heard the door open. She always liked to observe the different people who would wonder into the art room while ditching. The teacher never seemed to notice or never seem to care.

Today's person had long straight black hair, dressed in a black/kind of blue button up shirt with black trip pants with green straps. He had no backpack or any books. Not even a fake pass. This was a little odd. But even odder, he came and sat down at her table right in front of Dwayne.

"Dwayne my boy!" the kid said in a cheery voice that totally clashed against his appearance. "How are you doing on this mildly cloudy Wednesday with a chance of precipitation."

Dwayne raised one eyebrow as if confused before writing…

_I though you dropped out._

"I though you could talk."

_I took a vow of silence._

"You took a vow of silence." The kid said repeating the words he read as if that would make them more understandable. "That's so queer. I don't mean that in the gay way, but that's just odd."

_What are you doing back?_

"Well, I've been thinking of coming back for awhile now. Technically right now, I'm still a drop out. But once I fill out those papers the lady gave me, I'll be back! With a vengeance! So who are you?" the kid said directing his attention to her. She hadn't realized she had been staring at him the whole time. She needed to remember to mind her manners.

"I'm Hannah."

"So, you finally got yourself a girlfriend. I'm proud of you, man."

_She's not my girlfriend._

"Oh, sorry for assuming." The kid made air quotations around the word assuming. "My name is Seth by the way." Then Seth and Dwayne started carrying on there conversation with out her. She inferred it was something about Seth leaving his girlfriend. Blah Blah Blah.

After awhile Puck was getting on her nerves so she switched books. She popped open The Keys to the Kingdom and started reading.

"What ch' readin'" Seth asked. Before she could answer he grabbed the book away from her while diligently keeping her place. "Garth Nix. He sounds like a country singer."

"We should write him a letter and tell him that with a name like his, he's a shoe in in the music business." She added before snatching her book away from him.

"I was reading that! Fine. You know you can really pick em' Dwayne." Dwayne rolled his eyes ignoring him while his put another dollop of black paint on the canvas and started smoothing it out. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Seth asked. She shook her head no. "Well, do you have a boyfriend?"

"Nope. Why do you ask?" She replied a little scared of his intensions.

"Well, if your not hopelessly devoted to someone, why aren't you and him together?" Seth asked pointing to Dwayne.

"Were just friends. Is that so hard to believe?"

"Maybe."

_Seth likes to be Mr. Matchmaker._

"With over 200 happy couples, you can't argue with my results."

"Are you serious?"

"Well, its more like two, but were creeping up on the 200 mile stone. Let me help you guys! Come on. I need something to do." Seth said bouncing in his chair.

"I've only know him for a week and a half."

"No excuse. I can see that you like each other."

"I think you have something wrong with your brain."

"Come on, I just watched the movie Hitch. I can so do this."

_Just leave it alone._

"Fine, Mr. I'm above talking. But mark my words, you'll end up together. Mark them!"

_Your words have been marked, now if you have another complaint please go to the back of the line. There are people waiting._

"But there's no one else in line."

_Well, then we just don't care._

"This is bullshit. Hey, Hannah. Do you like magic tricks?" Defiantly short attention span.

_Just say no._

But she couldn't resist. "Yes."

_I tried to warn you._

Seth pulled a quarter out of his pocket and held it out for her to see. He held it between his thumb and first finger, snapped and it was gone. He held out his other hand and opened his fist and there it was. He snapped again and it was gone.

"Now where is it?"

_Behind her ear_

"Don't ruin my act." But Seth reached across the table and put his hand behind her ear. She heard his fingers snap, and when he pulled his hand away the quarter gleamed between his fingers. He clapped his hands together and again, it was gone. "Now where is it?"

He had barely spoken the words when Dwayne reached across the table and pulled the quarter out from behind Seth's ear, and then dropped it on the table.

_Ta-da!_

"Thanks for running the ending."

"It was wonderful." She said clapping.

"Thank you thank you. I'll be back next week. I minor in parlor tricks."

"What's your major then?"

"My ninja skills. There so good."

"I bet they are."

"Want to see some."

"Sure."

Dwayne got up to put away his paint and left her there with Seth. He crumpled up a sheet of paper, Dwayne's Biology homework to be exact, and said 'watch this.' He tossed it at the trash can and missed.

"See, only the very talented can do that." The bell sounded and Hannah gathered her books and waited for Dwayne to come back.

_Where the hell is my homework?_

"Over there." Hannah said pointing. "Seth was demonstrating his ninja aim."

Dwayne sighed as he picked up the balled up paper and smoothed it out, he gathered his books and followed her out he door. Seth had already left the room but they saw him in the hall waiting for them. He was standing with his arms spread out agents the wall.

"What are you doing?" Hannah asked.

"I'm blending. You can't see me!"

Hannah gave a curious look at Dwayne, and he shrugged and they continued to walk down the hall. They hadn't gone too far past Seth before he caught up with them and swung his arms around both of them pulling them closer together.

"So where are you guys going?" Seth asked relinquishing them from his death grip.

"Were going to gym."

"Well shit. What am I supposed to do now? Hey, Dwayne. Want to ditch?"

_Not today. I really need to pass gym._

Seth sighed heavily as they entered the hall that lead to the gym. "The gym teacher hates me."

_Only because you never ran, never dressed out, oh, and you constantly tossed balls over the rail into the lower gym._

"Hey, those jocks kept tossing them at me, so I paid them back with a little game I like to call fetch." Someone they passed in the hall called out Seth's name. "My fans call. I'll see you guys later."

And Seth went the opposite way down the hall.

"Oh my. So I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of him?"

_It seems that way._

"I though you told me you didn't have any friends."

_He didn't really count when you asked. He dropped out about a month back. I haven't talked to him since. Well, until now._

"He's funny. But he seems a little off."

_Well he took drugs there for awhile. But not anymore. But he does smoke like a train._

"Yeah, I could smell it."

_But don't worry, he's a real nice guy. You'll like him._

"Yeah, he seems nice. I like nice guys." Hannah said touching his shoulder. It was her very bad attempt at flirting. She was never really good at it. "Well, I'll just need to talk him out of the smoking thing. Once that is done, I bet we'll be as thick as thieves. Kind of like us."

_But you've never tried to talk me out of anything._

"That's because you don't have any less that desirable qualities. Now, let's go get gym over with."


	6. She made him an offer he couldn't refuse

**Author Note: Sorry this one isn't very long. The next one will probably be outrageous in length unless I make it in two parts. Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I always want to know what you thoughts are, and the more I get, the more motivated I am to write. So, as always: Enjoy!**

Wednesday's gym was a little less horrible than usual. It was basketball day, and the cheep school had finally ordered more balls, so Dwayne and Hannah could play one on one today instead of being forced to join the other team that obviously didn't want them.

Dwayne and Hannah went to a less crowded balcony where there only other company was the punk kids at play. Yet it was more like the three girls sitting agents the wall talking while the guy stood and randomly bounced the ball. He also sometimes would randomly throw the ball as hard as he could at the wall above the girls. Just to see what happened, Dwayne suspected. The ball would make an earsplitting **_Wacrack_**, and randomly go flying across the gym, and the girls would all scream, loudly.

Gym was about half over and Dwayne had the begging's of a headache from all the pointless noise they were making. He wanted to go over there and take the guy out, but his better judgment kept him where he was, so he tried to listen to what Hannah was saying.

"And then I said make me, _bitch_! And then I got tossed out of I-hop. And that's that story. They still have my pitcher behind the counter back in my old town. You know we should go to I-hop sometime. I promise I won't get us thrown out." Hannah took a granny shot and still missed the target by a long shot. He was really going to have to teach her how to play.

When Hannah returned from running after the ball, she passed it to him and he dunked it. She scowled at him as he gave her back the ball.

"So, my parents are going to this 70's dance party on Saturday for their work and they're dragging me to it. It's out of town a bit. Like an hour and a half drive. I was wondering if you would like to come, I really don't want to be all alone for like seven hours while a bunch of drunken middle aged people dance in formation to music that never should be brought back to life, like Frankenstein." As she talked, he knew she was nervous about asking him, because she rambled when she was nervous. "So will you come?" She asked while not making eye contact.

_Sure, sounds interesting. I just have to ask Sheryl. What time is it?_

"We'll we have to leave at four, the party starts at six. The party lasts until midnight so we'll probably get home around two in the morning. I hope that's not a problem. I really want you to come."

_I'll have to ask, it shouldn't be a problem, I hope._

"Oh, and you have to dress up like your from the 70's. I got this really pretty dress and purple heels. I can't wait to boogie down."

_I don't think I have any clothes that look like there from back then. Do I have to?_

"Yes, otherwise my mom would kill you. This thing has to go off without a hitch for some odd reason. My moms been freaking this whole week."

_Can't wait. I'll bring my dancing shoes and show you some of my sweet dance skills. Only the problem is I don't know any. So you'll have to teach me some, then I'll teach them back to you and you'll be utterly amazed. _

"Sounds like a date." Dwayne practically chocked on air as she said this. A DATE! He, Dwayne, was going on A DATE, WITH A GIRL! Maybe he had passed out in the locker room and hit his head on something and he was dreaming. Yeah, that had to be it. He was lying on the floor somewhere and the gym teacher was yelling in his face to wake up, or you get an F. He could almost smell the gym teachers rank garlicky breath that he had tried to cover up with an altoid, but only made it worse. Come on Dwayne, wake up. He held his eyes shut forcing himself to wake up. He heard someone call his name and then he felt something hit him in the chest, knocking him over. His eyes opened before he hit the floor, and he saw the orange ball roll away from him, and Hannah scream many forms of sorry as she ran to help him up.

Okay, maybe he wasn't dreaming. Cause' that really hurt, but he would never tell her that as he scribbled '_I'm fine, really.' _On his note pad.

The punk kids stared at them for a few moments before forgetting them and moving on. He got up and bounced the ball to Hannah and watched as she tried to make a basket and missed 1… 2… 3... 4… times. The fourth time she flung the ball at the wall in frustration and plopped down on the floor.

"I hate this game. I'm no good!" The ball rolled back to her and she pouted as she stood again and look at the goal that hung way above her head. Then Dwayne had an idea.

He went behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up off the ground. She screamed at first and then she realized what he was doing and she made her basket. He slowly lowered her back to the ground and she squealed thinking that that he would drop her.

"Hey, want to hear a joke?" He shrugged. "Okay, if girls with big boobs work at hooters, where do girls with one leg work?"

_Where?_

"I-hop! Get it, I hop." Hannah started laughing at her little joke and he joined in, after he got over the fact that she just said a dirty word.

She was about to say something else when Mr. Mallown blew his whistle, signaling the end of class. They bid each other goodbye and Dwayne took the ball back to the large wire basket.

Dwayne couldn't help but smile as he got dressed. He had a date. An actual date. He was giddy with the idea, and didn't care if the whole school knew. But what would he wear?


	7. 70's Dance Part 1

Saturday was finally here, and Sheryl had agreed to let Dwayne go to the party. Although she wasn't crazy about him being out so late, at least he had a friend, and she was going to do everything she could to encourage him. That meant when she heard Dwayne needed help trying to find 70's looking clothes, she jumped at the chance to get closer to her son.

She ended up taking him to the local thrift store, because she didn't really have anything left from that era, that A would fit him, and B wasn't too girly. They ended up getting him a pair of bellbottoms, and a wildly colored button up shirt that looked so 70's that it must have been manufactured back then. Sheryl had to wash the clothes twice, due to Dwayne's orders. It creeped him out thinking about all the germs on them.

It was Saturday and Hannah had called that morning telling him to be at her house before 4:30 or he would be left behind. Dwayne dressed early wearing his tennis shoes. It was almost time to go, and Sheryl was running behind. Dwayne had waved his pad in front of her nose many a time, warning her of the time.

Dwayne sat on the couch and sighed as Sheryl ran to her room trying to find her shoes, which Olive had hid that morning. "Oh forget it!" Sheryl said coming from her bedroom carrying something plushy that was many hues of orange.

_What is that?_

"Oh, I went threw some old boxes last night trying to find something for you to wear that might be more suitable. Well I stumbled upon some of your dads old clothes and I found this vest. I hope it fits. You're about the size he was back then."

Dwayne put on the vest. The inside and outside were both made from the same slick material. The seems had popped in a few places, and the cotton stuffing had flattened over the years, but it was hardly noticeable, and it was perfect for his look.

_Thanks mom._

Sheryl was so happy she looked like she was on the verge to tears.

_Can we go now?_

Sheryl grabbed her keys and walked to the car barefoot. Dwayne was glad Olive hadn't decided to hide the car keys.

They made it to the Eve's in good time, and Hannah was waiting on the front porch tapping her foot impatiently.

"Do you need me to pick you up?" Sheryl asked just trying to hold on to this moment with her son that was fleeting.

_No, they'll probably drop me off. I've got a key, so don't wait up._

"If you insist. Bye, honey. Have fun." She pulled her son into a hug before he left the confines of the car, and she pulled away.

Hannah was in a spaghetti strap dress that went to her knees. It was purple, blue, and red stripped and had little white flowers all over it. She had her hair down and it was pushed back with a headband. She was beautiful.

"Dwayne!" Hannah called from the porch and ran to him. "I love your outfit. You look so cute." Hannah hugged him as she squealed with excitement. She smelled like strawberries.

"But your hair. We've have to do something about it." Dwayne hadn't thought about his hair. In fact, he never thought about his hair until he had to wash it. Hannah dragged him into the house. Inside a lady was running around putting in her earrings and putting on her heels. This must be Hannah's mom.

"Mom, Dwayne's here."

"Oh good. We can leave then. Get you coat and get into the car." The mother spoke with a sugary voice of kindness. She was just a little shorter than he was with orange colored hair. She wore a gaudy purple colored dress, she was defiantly going for the 70's look.

"But mom, I need to fix Dwayne's hair."

"Do it in the car. There's no time."

"Fine." Hannah stalked off to another part of the house while Dwayne stood there taking in the living room, that also looked like it came from the 70's. All the wood paneling and the window into the kitchen, kind of like there house, except it looked more open. The living room was filled with cream colored furniture that he had a feeling that used to be white. In the kitchen everything looked green. The walls were green, the fridge was green. Hey, was the stove green?

He started to lean forward to get a better look when Mrs. Eve blocked his way.

"Dwayne is it?" Mrs. Eve took his hand and shoot in vigorously in greeting. "Hannah talks about you all the time. You sound like a very nice boy."

A man entered the room, he could only assume it was Mr. Eve. The man was tall, well built, and had a receding hairline. The brown suite he wore looked very awkward on him. He was sure his wife forced him into it.

The man walked as if he was in a hurry, just like his wife. He held his car keys in his hand as he shuffled threw papers on the counter.

"Dear, what happened to the map?"

"I put it in the car. We do have company, you know." She said raising her voice and the sugar started to crumble away.

The man looked his way and said a formal hello, nice weather were having, greeting before grabbing his coat off the rack and asking, "Now where are my car keys?"

"Check your hand, Tom." Yep, the sugar was gone.

"Great, let's go. Hannah! Come on!"

"I'm coming!" Hannah's scream echoed threw out the house. She emerged from the back hallway a few moments later carrying a comb and what looked like a bottle of hair gel in one hand and her purse and her high heeled purple strap shoes in the other. He followed her into the garage where a light blue jeep sat.

"Cold floor! Cold Floor!" Hannah yelped before yanking the back door open and climbing in and shuffling into the seat on the passenger's side. Dwayne climbed in after her shutting the door. The light in the car was on, and Dwayne saw the inside was very clean. Unlike their car. The furry tan seats were comfy too.

The light that was singled on by the door went off, but Hannah turned on the light on the ceiling so she could work on his hair.

Hannah held up the white comb and told him to sit still. She started trying to pull it threw all the tangles that was his hair. "Do you ever brush your hair, really?" Hannah asked as she had to yank the comb to get to come out. He shook his head no. "Goodness." She said bracing herself agents the seat as she pulled it out again.

Mr. and Mrs. Eve returned to the car and they were soon on the road. They argued as they hit the highway, obviously forgetting that there were impressionable teens in the back seat as they threw every curse word in the book at each other. It was a wonder Hannah didn't curse. The sky was tuning orange as they took the on ramp onto the highway. It was a pretty sight that was ruined by the pain Hannah was inflicting with her comb.

Eventually Hannah was done with combing his hair, and he felt his aching head. His hair felt silky and smooth, a feeling he wasn't used to.

"I love your hair. It's so bouncy and fun." Hannah said running her hands threw his hair. Her fingers massaged his aching scalp, and it felt nice.

"Okay, now what to do with your hair. I know." She held up her comb again fixing what she had messed up. The teeth scraped agents his skin, but not too hard. She made a new part, and started flipping his hair in an odd way. He didn't like not knowing what she was doing. She took out her bottle of spray gel and started spraying it into his hair. Great, now he was going to have to wash his hair before he could go to bed tonight, or would that be tomorrow morning.

After several tries Hannah finally achieved the look she was going for. She took a mirror out of her purse to let him look. The one side of his hair was flat while on the other side was kind of bouncy and she had molded a nice, natural looking wave into it. It actually looked really nice.

"Do you like it? If you don't we can always wash it out in a water fountain when we get there. Then you can be the guy from the 70's that discovered Atlantis. We'll change history!"

_No I like it._

"That's good because I love my work and you're not going to mess it up." Hannah threatened as she shook her comb at him. "So, do you think your understanding my German book?"

_Ich sage so._

"It's German. You are learning after all."

_Yeah and where's my book. You never returned it like you promised. _

"I'm not done with it yet. It's a very boring book to read. It's like a history text book. He just goes on and on. But the ideas are interesting. Complicated and interesting. I don't know how you can understand it. You must be super smart."

_Not really._

"Oh, yeah right. Hey, mom. How long until we get there?"

"Another 40 minutes."

"You got to be kidding me!"

"Hannah, watch your tone."

"Yeah, Wayne. You really picked yourself a wild one." Mr. Eve said.

"It's Dwayne dad. And how many times do I have to tell you were not going out."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Dwayne did you know that Hannah's really shy. And she's never had a boyfriend before…"

"Dad! Don't embarrass me!"

"Alright honey."

Hannah put her face in her hands for a moment to try and rub out her humiliation. Dwayne scribbled something on his pad and tapped her on the shoulder.

_So how about that rain last night?_

Hannah laughed, and Dwayne couldn't help but write

_So, you've never had a boyfriend, eh?_

And Hannah punched him on the arm.


	8. 70's Dance Part 2

**Author's Note: Thanks again for all the reviews. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I have to give a shout out to all the artists whose music I mention. There all really great songs, and enjoy!**

Night had fallen like a brick and they were finally pulling into the parking lot of some community center. They were at least 20 minutes early, but the parking lot was already full. They found a spot near some tree in the middle of the lot.

Hannah had put on her heels when they got off the highway. She stashed her bag under the seat as she got out of the car and followed her mom towards the building that gave off a yellow light so there was no mistaking where it was at.

"Hannah, where's your coat?" Mrs. Eve asked just as Dwayne was getting out of the car.

"I didn't bring one mom." Hannah replied.

"But you'll freeze. You had better hurry on inside."

"But it's 60 degrees out." Mrs. Eve acted like she didn't here her, and Hannah walked even slower in defiance. Dwayne walked next to her, and when they got into the building, they had lost sight of her parents. The entry room they had come into was pure white, everywhere. It hurt his eyes. He had never seen so much white in one place, except at hospitals.

Everyone in front of them was headed to a room to their left that was darker than the one they were in. Dwayne expected that it was the dance room that Hannah was leading him to.

The room they emerged into was dark and the only lighting in the room was tinted purple. The room was large and already had lots of people in it, with more coming in every minute. He didn't see Hannah's parents anywhere, they were long gone in the sea of people.

Some old John Denver song blared from the speakers excessively loud. Everyone around them was dressed from head to toe like they came out of a 70's high school yearbook. Except they looked more like the staff than the students now.

Hannah was dragging him to the far side of the room where it was less crowded.

_Where'd your parents go? Won't they be worried?_

"Nah, they don't care. When they're ready to go, they'll find us. Want to dance?" Hannah said stopping once they had reached the far side of the room where it was less crowded, and a little less loud.

_But I don't know how to dance._

"I'll teach you. Come here. Watch me. You… Put… Your… left foot in, you put your left foot out. You put your left foot in and you shake it all about. Just kidding." Then Hannah actually started showing him some dance moves. Like: step right twice, step left twice, while clapping, spin, while shaking your hips. But that was just the easy dance. They got harder. But Dwayne copied Hannah's moves and found dancing to be not that hard.

Roughly two hours passed and they were boarded. They had danced nearly the entire time, and had done the YMCA dance twice already. They had decided to get some food off the refreshment table, and now sat at a crappy folding table that was covered in a thin, purple table cloth.

Dwayne munched on a mini sandwich while Hannah sang to the song that was playing. She liked to sing, as he had found over the past week. She had a good singing voice, so it didn't bother him that she would randomly burst into song.

"Lookin' for some Hot Stuff baby this evenin'. Lookin' for some Hot Stuff baby tonight. I want some hot stuff baby this evenin'. Gotta have some hot stuff. Gotta have some love tonight." Hannah stopped singing and picked up a cube of cheese and started nibbling on it. "So are you having a killer time?"

Dwayne nodded and smiled. He found that it was so easy to smile with her. He didn't know why. Just two weeks ago he hated smiling and never did if he could help it.

"So, what do you want to do now? Spike the punch? Steal the car? Flood the bathrooms? Whatever you'd like to do."

_Let's try something not illegal. _

"Oh, fine." Hannah said giggling. "Do you think your friend Seth's actually going to come back to school?"

_I have no idea. Maybe, maybe not. He's a free spirit, and you never know where he's a going._

"Interesting choice of words. Ohhh, I love this song. Want to dance?" Like he had a choice when Hannah sprung to her feet and pulled him out of his chair. The song was 'Ring My Bell', and he couldn't believe she actually liked this horrible song. But it ended soon and another song took its place. A slow song.

Dwayne didn't know what to do, so he froze.

"Come on, aren't you going to dance with me?" Hannah asked walking towards him until they were inches away and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Was it getting hot in here? Because Dwayne's temperature just rose a few degrees. He slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and they started swaying back and forth. Hannah let out a soft sign and rested her head on his shoulder. The music flowed all around them, soft and sweet. Hannah's breath tickled his neck.

The song ended and melded into a fast song. "Want to go outside?" Dwayne nodded as they dashed from the room, causing a few people to stare. They hit the parking lot at a run. The chilly air felt good agents his hot skin. At first he didn't know where Hannah was going until he saw the car in the distance.

_Why are we here? We don't have the key. _

"Hey, did I ever tell you I know magic?" Hannah said as she squatted by the driver's door and ran her hand underneath the frame. Dwayne raised an eyebrow as he watched her retrieve a hide a key box and took the key out and unlocked the door. She motioned Dwayne to get in the drivers seat while she got in the passengers seat.

_What are we doing here? _Dwayne asked as he got in the car and watched her digging under her seat for something. _Were not really going to steal the car are we?_ He asked panicking. He couldn't go to jail. He was too young.

"No, goober. Were going to listen to music. Here," Hannah said pushing a booklet of CD's into his hands. "Pick out something to listen to, then."

He flipped threw the pages filled with bad pop CD's. "Most of those are my moms. I think mine are towards the back." She said grabbing her moms water bottle and taking a drink. He picked out an orange CD that was near the back. The band was The Darkness. He wasn't sure if he'd heard the name before or not.

He handed her the CD. "Nice choice. I like this band." Hannah said putting it in and hitting play, then skipping the first few songs. A fast song blared from the speakers and he realized he had heard the band before. Awhile back on the radio or something. The music was interesting. They listened to a few songs before Hannah turned it off saying she was board. She got board a lot.

_Well, what do we do now?_

Hannah snapped her fingers, "I know. Let's play Truth or Dare. You go first."

_Truth_

"Aww, your no fun. Well, tell me. Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

_No, I have not. Your turn._

"Dare!"

_Fine, I dare you to request a song inside that they won't have._

"Done. Let's go." Hannah said hopping out of the car and bounced around to his side of the car. "Is anybody watching?" Hannah asked as she bent over to put the hide a key back.

_I don't think so. But those gulls look pretty suspicious. If the car gets jacked we'll have to bring them in for questioning. _

They made there way back in, and it wasn't until they reached the warm interior that Dwayne realized he was cold. He flowed Hannah threw the crowded room, and they looked for the DJ. It took them 3 times around before they finally spotted the inconspicuous man with all the records. Hannah had to squeeze threw all the people who were begging for his attention.

"Do you take request here?" Hannah said in a British accent.

"Sure do, what would you like to hear?" The young man said with a hint of annoyance to his voice. He was probably tired of listening to bad 70's disco songs for three hours.

"How about some Franz Ferdinand?"

"We only play music from the 70's or close to it. If you have another request please tell me, other wise I can't help you."

"Oh, I don't want to hear anything else." Hannah started walking away and was almost to Dwayne when she turned and shouted "I've changed me mind! Free Bird!!!"

Before the DJ could look up, she grabbed Dwayne's wrist and pulled him with her as she ran. She pulled him threw fog that was made by a machine that someone had plugged in. Dwayne breathed in the heavy smoke and then started coughing really hard.

"I think we lost him." Hannah said once she stopped. Dwayne was still coughing really hard. He was allergic to smoke, one reason why his mother had to stop smoking. "Are you okay?"

_I'm allergic to smoke, I'm going to go get a drink. _

"Alright, I'll be right here." Dwayne continued to cough as he went into the hall. He felt his chest burn as he coughed harder. He made his way to a lonely little fountain, and he guzzled down a few mouthfuls. He immediately felt better but he took a few more sips just to be sure. The entire hallway was deserted and he could barely hear the music when the doors where shut. They must have thick walls.

As Dwayne entered the room again, the music flooded his ears. Hannah wasn't standing far from the doors and her back to him. And, no she wasn't. Oh, yes she was, playing air guitar. He laughed as he watched her. The song ended with a final bleat. Hannah turned and saw him, and a soft smile lit up her face.

Another song took the last one's place. It was softer, and at first Dwayne though that it was a country song until Cher started singing.

'_You're struttin' into town like you're slingin' a gun. Just a small town dude with a big city attitude. Honey your lookin' for some trouble tonight. Well alright.'_

Hannah motioned Dwayne to come to her.

_'You think your so bad, drive the women folk wild. Shoot em' all down with a flash of your pearly smile.'_

As Dwayne got closer to her, she danced away from him.

'_Honey but you met your match tonight. Oh that's right!'_

As she turned to face him, she was smiling. So the game begins.

'_You think you'll knock me off my feet till' I'm flat on the floor. Till' my heart is crying out and I'm beggin' for more.'_

Every time Hannah got within reach of Dwayne she spun away from him, giggling.

'_So come on baby, come on baby. Come on baby show me what that loaded gun is for. If you can give it, I can take it. Cause if this heart is gonna break It's gonna take a lot to break it.'_

As Hannah spun away from Dwayne once again, Dwayne reached out and caught her by the arm, causing her to spin into his arms.

'_I know tonight somebody's gonna win the fight. So if your so tough come on and prove it.'_

Dwayne spun Hannah around and then dipped her.

'_Your heart is down for the count and you know you're gonna lose it.'_

Their faces were inches apart, and Dwayne's breath caught.

_'Tonight you're gonna go down in flames just like Jesse James.'_

Dwayne lifted Hannah back to her feet and they continued to slow dance, staring into each others eyes.

'_You're an outlaw lover and I'm after your hide. Well you ain't so strong. Won't be long till your hands are tied. Tonight I'm gonna take you in dead or alive. That's right. You break the laws of love in the name of desire. Take ten steps back, Cause I'm ready baby aim and fire. Baby there's no way you gonna run tonight. Oh, that's right. Well you've had your way with love. But it's the end of the day. Now a team of wild horses couldn't drag your heart away.'_

They became so close that the ends of their noses touched. Hannah pulled back and laughed. But the laugh was small and was covering something deeper.

'_So come on baby, come on baby. Come on baby you know there ain't nothing left to say.'_

Hannah rested her head on his shoulder again as they swayed to the rest of the song. Dwayne liked holding her, it felt right, and he never wanted to let her go.


	9. 70's Dance Part 3

The night was starting to get boring and Hannah and Dwayne were doing anything to keep themselves preoccupied. They continued with truth or dare and Hannah had dared Dwayne to go steal a beer. Hannah was currently waiting in the hallway, sitting on the floor and hoping he didn't get caught.

She didn't have to wait much longer before Dwayne emerged with a cold one. He handed it to her and sat beside her. She just stared at the full bottle as Dwayne took off his vest. He had complained earlier about how hot he was. She agreed with him that he was 'hot'. He thought she was just joking, but she wasn't.

_Are you going to drink it?_

"No, do you want any?" She asked him.

_No, I don't like alcohol_

"You've tried it before?" Hannah asked curiously.

_Yeah, last Christmas my Uncle Frank gave me some Sherry, it was horrible. And my mom ranted about it for weeks. Anyway, that's why my Uncle is banned from our house at the moment._

Hannah laughed at his funny little story.

_So what are you going to do with that?_

"Let's toss it out." Hannah said walking to the water fountain and pouring it down the drain and keeping the bottle. "Hey, why don't we have a talent contest? This could be our mike." Hannah said speaking into the empty bottle. It made her voice get deeper and echo only a little.

_But I don't think I have any talents._

"Oh sure you do. I'll go first so you can think." Then she did her best rendition of Razzle Dazzle. It wasn't that good and she laughed threw most of the song and did this horrid little dance with it. She was being horrible on purpose to make him feel better and have more self confidence.

When she was done, Dwayne gave her a standing ovation. "And now put your hands together and welcome Dwayne! Woo!" They traded places and Hannah sat down in the middle of the hallway, watching him.

He bent over and it looked like he was going to touch his toes, what an impressive talent. But that's not what he did. He laid his hands flat on the floor, (man, he must be really flexible, she couldn't even touch her toes.) and he flipped his legs up in the air. He was standing on his hands with his legs straight in the air. He didn't wobble very much and he walked around a little on his hands before he leaned backwards and landed squarely on his feet and bowed.

"What an impressive talent. I could never do that. I'm so not flexible." Dwayne sat down next to her.

_Glad you liked it. I do it for Olive sometimes to impress her, so I thought you might like it._

"I did. Now who wins?"

_You, hands down._

"No way, I was horrible. You were much better." Hannah said being modest again.

_You were brilliant._

And Dwayne leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. The little peck sent shivers down her spine and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. They looked at each other for a long moment. Perhaps testing each other before Dwayne started to lean towards her. Her breath caught as he got closer, and closer.

Then a loud shrill sounded threw out the whole building. Hannah leaned away and covered her ears. It was the fire alarm. They quickly got to their feet, Hannah tossed the bottle away in the nearest trash can, and they followed the large crowd outside.

There was a large crowd already gathering by the door, and they walked to the back of the crowd. Dwayne pulled on his vest again and zipped it up. It was far colder than it was earlier.

"Brrr…." Hannah complained about the cold. Dwayne reached for her to give her a hug to warm her up when they heard Mrs. Eve calling for them.

"Hannah! Hannah! Where are you?" She called out.

"Over here mom!" Hannah yelled back. Mrs. Eve emerged from the crowd and ran to her daughter sweeping her into a large hug.

"I was so worried when I didn't see you. For a second I thought I might have lost you amongst the crowd or flames." Mr. Eve soon appeared out of the crowd and wrapped his arm around his wife.

"So there really is a fire?" Hannah asked.

"Oh yes, yes. Now we need to stay here until the fires out. Our coats are in there."

"Now Hannah," Mr. Eve said, "You and David go to the car and keep warm. Here are my keys." Mr. Eve handed her the keys.

"Dad, its Dwayne! Not David or Wayne or Cowboy Steve or whatever crazy thing your going to say next."

"Alright, sweet. Go to the car." Mr. Eve said in an overly happy voice suggesting he didn't even listen to what his daughter was saying.

Hannah and Dwayne sat silently in the car too afraid to talk because neither really wanted to discuss what almost happened inside. Hannah kept looking at Dwayne's watch, checking the time. It was past 12:40 and the fire trucks were there. They seemed to have put the fire out.

"Goodness gracious. This is going to take all night." Hannah said scooting closer to Dwayne. He looked down at her kindly and wrapped his arm around her when she complained of being cold. She snuggled her head into the place between his shoulder and his chest. Breathing him in deeply and closing her eyes. She was much more tired than she though. She barley remembered her parents coming back to the car. She remembered her mother rambling about 'stupid drunk people.' And she kind of remembers her saying something about a torch, or was it a flame thrower. It didn't really matter.

All Hannah could think about as she drifted off was Dwayne and how close he was. And about there almost kiss. She let out a soft sigh that only Dwayne heard as fell asleep.


	10. Seth's revenge

**Author's Note: Thanks again for all the lovely reviews. Keep them coming, I like to hear what you think. Good or bad. Sorry for making you keep waiting for the big kiss. Just a little longer. I promise it will come eventually! I hope you like this chapter. Kind of long with some mild cursing. You have been warned. Enjoy.**

Monday arrived sooner than Dwayne had expected. He had barley recovered from the wild night on Saturday. But he was greatly looking forward to seeing Hannah again. The bus arrived on schedule or a little later. He quietly strolled to his seat to continue to reflect about Saturday. He had also fallen asleep on the way home. They didn't get home until four in the morning because apparently there was some huge wreck on the highway. But he was too out of it to care.

When he came in, he found his mom asleep on the sofa. He woke her up feeling bad about making her wait up for him. She was happy to see him, and drowsily went on about how she loved his hair, and about how much he looked like his father. After about a 10 minute reunion he finally got to go to bed.

The bus finally rolled to a stop on Hannah's street. He eagerly awaited her arrival. Like always she was the last one on the bus. But she wasn't her normal cheerful self. This made Dwayne worried. She clutched her books to her chest and whispered hello as she plopped into the seat next him.

_What's wrong?_

"Oh, nothing." Hannah wined. He could see threw her like glass. Well, maybe foggy glass. Because he didn't know what was wrong.

_You're a terrible liar. I know you better._

"Well, even if I am lying it's not your problem." Hannah said irritably. Dwayne scowled at her.

_You don't have to bite my head off. I'm only trying to help._

"I'm sorry. I just really don't want to talk about it."

Dwayne furrowed his brows thinking. What possibly could have happened in 24 hours?

_Did someone die? Is that what IT is?_

"No…" Hannah said with no emotion to her voice.

_Did you watch Steven King's IT? That movie is pretty scary, I feel you on that one. Couldn't sleep for a week. Always thought he would suck me down the drain._

Hannah laughed.

_There it is. Your not completely gone._

"Well, I didn't just watch that movie. But I have seen it before. Thanks for all the help. Now, I'm going to be looking around corners and avoiding drains all day thinking that the clown is going to eat me."

_So will you tell me what's wrong?_

"Maybe later." Hannah said as they pulled into the school lot. She walked off to class alone leaving Dwayne to feel dejected. He couldn't help but wonder if it was him. Did he push things too far on Saturday? He knew it. She wasn't ready for a relationship. Or at least not one with him. They were only friends. He could already hear her explaining these words to him. His heart was crumbling away. He was such an idiot to fall for her. Damn it!

To preoccupy his mind which was running at full speed imagining all his imitate humiliation, he finished two complete chapters in Computer Applications. History wasn't much better. Hannah could barley look at him.

It was defiantly him.

_So when are you going to tell me._

"Lunch, I promise. I'm just not ready yet." Hannah laid out her excuse. Great, now he had another two periods to dread his imamate doom.

Hannah walked into the lunch room still not ready. But she promised didn't she. She just didn't want to unload all her problems on Dwayne and make him feel bad. Oh, what was she going to do?

She didn't feel like eating so she just sat down next to Dwayne. Better to get this over with now.

_Aren't you going to eat?_

"I'm not hungry." That was a lie, but she felt like she would Ralph if she did, so better not to eat.

_So, are you going to tell me?_

"Yeah," She said folding her arms on the table and laying her chin down. She started talking not really looking at him. "Well, after we dropped you off on Sunday, all my parents did was fight. All day Sunday. That's all I heard was yelling, cursing and breaking dishes. Dwayne, I'm so scared. I think there going to break up. I'm not sure if I can handle it. I hate all the fighting and I know its going to get worse."

_Well, that's a relief! _

"What!" Hannah practically screamed at him. He did look relived to. It looked almost like he had taken his first breath since that morning.

_Oh, it's not what you think. I'm sorry about your parents and all. My whole life I've had to listen to grown ups fight. My mom and my dad. My mom and Richard. I'm just relived that your not mad at me. You had me very worried._

"Oh, I could never be mad at you." Hannah said pinching his cheek. "It's just really hard."

_I know how you feel. I have to deal with it all the time. So does Olive, but she doesn't really understand any of it. It's hard, but we get threw. So will you. Just know your not alone. Feel better?_

"Lots."

_Are you hungry now?_

"Actually yes." Dwayne ripped his pizza in half and handed it to her. "Your so sweet." Hannah said gobbling down her food.

_Well I'm glad your feeling better because I'm supposed to relay a message to you._

"From who?" Hannah asked taking a swig of Dwayne's milk. "Hope you don't mind." She added realizing he didn't say she could have any. Dwayne shook his head no, of course he didn't care.

_From Seth. He's back in school today. He has Art with us next and wants you to get him a yogurt. _

"A- why isn't he here in lunch? B- When did you see him? And C- why don't you get it for him?"

_A- This morning he got his morning schedule but they didn't have time to do his afternoon classes so he has to do it during lunch. B- He now has Chemistry with me. And C- I don't have any money._

"Well, I guess I'll get it for him. As long as he pays me back."

_Fat Chance_

"What's that supposed to mean?"

_Well, he will repay you. He'll just never repay you in money. He'll repay you in favors. Lots of favors until they equal 25 cents or whatever._

"Well, I guess I'll get it for him. I'm feeling generous right now. Do you want me to get you anything, since I've like eaten your entire lunch? I'm such a fat kid."

_No your not. I don't need anything. But if you see something that screams me, go ahead and get it._

As Hannah stood in line, everyone started filing out of the lunch room. Great, she was going to be late. She got an apple for herself, some crackers and cheese for Dwayne and the yogurt for Seth.

Dwayne was standing by the door waiting on her and she tossed the packet of crackers to him. "It just screamed you." She said giving him a reason why she bought it for him.

They thought they might have to wait awhile before Seth showed up, but they were wrong. As soon as they entered the art room they spotted Seth. He was arguing with Miss. Ives.

"No, Seth. Your not going to be in Art this year."

"Oh come on. I love Art."

"No, you never do any work in here, and I'm tired of watching you sleep threw my class."

"I swear I'll do work. I promise. I will paint so many pitchers you'll be tired of grading them."

"One chance that's all I'm giving you. If you don't have a finished project by the end of this week your out of here. No more chances."

"No more chances. Fine! I'll paint a tree or something."

"Get to work everybody!" Mrs. Ives called as the bell rang. Seth walked to there usually table grabbing a piece of paper on his way.

"Seth!" Hannah called in a sing song voice.

"Hey guys! I've got class with you now! Surprise!"

"Surprise back, I brought yogurt!"

"Are you serious?" Seth said taking the little bottle of Trix yogurt she handed him. He eyed it like it was a hunk of gold. "You are the best. I didn't believe you would actually bring me some. We are friends for life now, I love you. Seriously you are my idol." Hannah eyed Dwayne curiously as Seth pulled her into a huge hug. Dwayne just shrugged and sat down.

When Seth relinquished her from the hug she followed him to find some paints.

"Man, your awesome! It's even strawberry!" Seth opened the lid and licked some off the top. "Hey Dwayne! You won't believe this! It's Strawberry!" Dwayne tossed his arms up in the air unenthusiastically pretending like he was super psyched too. Seth, as Hannah now learned had an overly happy personality.

"I love art. Painting dead trees, zombies, and graveyards. Oh yeah! I paint at home sometimes but all my paint brushes are like super glued to the pain that I left out. Literally, when you try to pick up the paint brush the entire tray comes up with it." Seth droned on.

"Sounds interesting. I love to paint to." Hannah replied picking up a tray that had paint dried on it in large clumps. She tried peeling some of it off but it was hopeless. So she shuffled threw a stack of wet paint stained trays until she found a half way decent one. "All the equipment here sucks."

"Yeah, that's because they have a budget of like two dollars." Seth had found a tray too and they went to the table that had all the paints on it, and a variety of other objects that had nothing to do with art. Dwayne was sitting with his back to them drawing something on the paper that Seth had brought to the table. Hannah had an idea so she reached out and ruffled Dwayne's hair slightly without looking away from the paints. She quickly pulled back her hand and grabbed a bottle of paint. She knew he had turned around and was looking around, so she tried to pour her paint and try to act like she was listening to Seth as he talked about some game that was 'the shit. You so have to play it.'

She saw out of her peripheral that Dwayne had gone back to drawing so she reached out and ruffled his hair again and then quickly asked Seth a question.

"So, how many lives do you get?"

"Just one. Oh, man I hate dying. All the other characters laugh at you and if your in one of the villages they dance around your corpse. It's so morbid. I love it! So are you and Dwayne going out yet?"

"No."

"NO!" Seth dropped his tray on the paint table and quickly sat down next to Dwayne shaking him. "You haven't asked her out yet! What is WRONG with you! Is that my paper? I told you to ask her out! She won't say no. Don't even get worried about it. She likes you to. So, ask her! Don't make me do it."

_You aren't going to do shit. It's my life._

"Yeah, and your fucking it up nice aren't you." Hannah came back to the table at that moment and started to sit across from Dwayne. "I'm in your seat aren't I. Just tell me to move. Don't be afraid to tell me, or even push me out of the chair or yank it out from under me." Seth got up and trader her seats.

"So, you guys have gym after this right." Dwayne nodded not looking up. "Guess who's your new running partner?!"

_Tim McGraw!_

"Don't be an ass just because I know you in love with her. Your like crystal Dwayne. I can see right threw you." And then he started singing. "Dwayne and Hannah, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage. Then comes Hannah pushing a baby carriage."

To say the least this continued the rest of the day, and continued on threw out the week.

Tuesday

"Fine, just pretend that you guys don't love each other." Seth said and then started making a kissing sound. Hannah couldn't stop blushing. She wondered if Dwayne actually believed him and now knew that she liked him. Or even more, did he really like her?

"Love her, Love her! Say that you love her!" Seth started singing, "Fool me fool me, just try and fool me! Love her, Love her! Pretend that you don't her! Leave her, Leave her! Just say that you need her!"

Dwayne threw his paint brush at Seth, who ducked out of the way just in time.

"Chill out dude. I'm just playing with you." Dwayne got up to retrieve his paintbrush which was on the other side of the room, and Seth whispered to Hannah, "Actually he does like you."

"Did he tell you that?" She asked.

"No!" Seth scoffed, "But I know him better than he thinks. He really likes you. And you really like him."

"I never told you that." Dwayne returned to the table at this moment.

"Hey Dwayne!" Seth called, "Hannah has the hot's for you." Dwayne curiously looked at Hannah, whom gave him a pleading look.

Wednesday

"Oh come on Dwayne you know you like her. Kiss her! Just one kiss." Dwayne had his face in his hands trying to ignore Seth's constant interference in his life. It was lunch and Hannah put down her spork she was using for the bad lasagna and rubbed Dwayne's back. She knew he didn't like being forced into things. Even if she did want him to ask her out, it was obvious he didn't want to. Or at least not under this kind of pressure.

"Just leave him alone."

"You know all this goes for you too. I know you like him as much or more than he likes you. Come on, make him feel better. No, better. Make me feel better, and tell him you like him. Tell him you think he's hot. Smokin' even."

"Just leave us alone."

"What fun is that? I'm bored. Nothing better to do. Come on. You got to admit my boy Dwayne is good looking. If I were gay, I'd do him." Dwayne looked up at Seth with a terrified look. As if to say, please, don't continue on this mentally scaring subject.

"Oh fine. Be happy being miserable you two. See if I care. I'm only trying to help." Then Seth started singing again. "If you want my body, and you think I'm sexy. Come on baby let me know!"

Dwayne picked up his rock hard breadstick and tossed it at Seth's head.

Thursday

"I know I promised to butt out! But come on. It's so obvious it hurts. Sharing your lunches! Painting on the same pitcher! You guys even played hopscotch yesterday! Come on! Sometimes I swear you even hold hands under the table. I bet you guys are just torturing me on purpose."

_You know it._

"I knew it!"

_I was being sarcastic._

"You guys suck." Seth said now in a bad mood because he had promised to stop being Mr. Matchmaker.

But of all Hannah knew of Seth, everything changed on Friday…


	11. Pep Rally!

**Authors Note: Sorry this chapter took so long to post. My computer practically crashed this week, and I think it might do it again. So if I don't post in awhile, know it's not my fault. I hope you like this chapter. It takes Seth to a whole new level of depth with the character and of annoyance of Dwayne. By the end your going to be wondering why there friends with him. But Seth's all heart and trying to help them, remember that. Also, I put lots of foreshadowing in this chapter for things to come. So you might want to look for that. But, as always, ENJOY!**

Friday started out as an ordinary day. A little sunny, with a few clouds but an ordinary day. Except for one thing. Today, classes where at least 20 minutes shorter, because as Dwayne explained to her after all their classes there would be a mandatory Pep Rally they all had to attend. He said they had one every month or so. It was supposed to get the team going for the game later that night that neither of them were planning to attend. He also said it wasn't mandatory to pay attention, just as long as they stayed seated.

So, Hannah went about her day as usual; hating math, sharing a book with Dwayne in History because she had forgotten hers. And then came lunch.

She was so hungry it hurt. It was Taco day! Tacos Tacos Tacos! She quickly got her lunch and sat down next to Dwayne. Seth was already there, and had his head down on the table and didn't have any food. She guessed he wasn't eating any lunch today.

"What's wrong Seth? Are you tired?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah I'm tired. I didn't sleep at all last night. I was too worried to sleep." Seth sat up. He did look really bad.

"What happened?" Hannah looked over and Dwayne. He chewed his food slowly giving Seth a look of sympathy rather than one of curiosity. So she figured he already knew what it was.

"Well, I got a call last night for my ex-girlfriend. That was a lot of fun." Seth said sarcastically. Was that all? But before the thought barley crossed her mind that he continued. "She's pregnant! By the same guy she cheated on me with! And if that's not bad enough! She wants me to take care of her and her baby, that's not even mine! She kept telling me it was all a huge mistake, and that she loves me still. But I just can't believe her. I know she just needs me to take care of her so she's not living on the street."

"How do you know it's not yours?"

"Because I never slept with her. I'm not a virgin or anything. But I haven't slept with her. I don't know what to do. I hate not helping her when I know she needs me. But, I'm not going to ruin my life over her stupid mistake. I really hate doing this, but I have to. "

"I'm sorry Seth."

"Not your fault, sweets. Welcome to High School. These things happen." And Seth got up and walked out of the cafeteria. Hannah started to stand to go after him but Dwayne caught her arm and pulled her back into her seat, shaking his head no.

_Just let him go. He needs to be alone._

"I just hate watching people hurt. Knowing there's nothing I can do." Dwayne touched her hand under the table, rubbing it. It was his way of telling her everything was going to be okay. "Do you think he'll be in Art? Or gym, or anything?"

_It's hard to say._

Seth wasn't in Art, and Hannah became very worried about him.

_He probably just went home. Don't worry so much about him. He's a big boy. He can take care of himself._

"I hope your right."

Gym came, and to there surprise, Seth was there. He looked better to. What happened to him? Dwayne didn't seem worried, so he probably already knew. And no matter how much Hannah pestered either of them, they refused to tell her.

"I do feel better. But you know what would make me feel even better?"

"What?" Hannah asked as they walked around the inside track. It was a free day, and because of the shortened day they didn't even have to dress out.

"A hug, come on. Give me a hug!" And Seth started chasing Hannah around the gym. Hannah squealed as she ran away. "Hug! Hug!" Seth said running after her.

"Save me! Ahhh!" Hannah called to Dwayne as she ran passed him. He was just standing there observing the commotion. When she had a chance to double back she ran behind him and hugged him from behind, using him as a human shield. "Save me!"

As Seth approached Dwayne stood in front of Hannah, Seth stood his ground for a moment, trying to figure a way around Dwayne. But what he did surprised them. Instead of veering to the right or left to get around him, he ran right at him. He picked Dwayne up in a huge embrace, and Dwayne looked like he wanted to scream as his feet left the ground. But he couldn't. His lips were pressed in a hard line, suppressing sound. So instead he flailed his limbs around until Seth put him down.

"There, now I feel 100. I got a hug." Dwayne shoved Seth as he regained his balance. "Come on. Hugs are fun." Dwayne gave Seth a terrified look at if he was expecting Seth to come at him again.

"My hero!" Hannah said running to Dwayne and giving him a hug. Dwayne hugged her back.

"Oh, I see how it is! You'll give him a hug but not me." Hannah felt bad so she went to Seth and gave him a small hug. "Thank you. You know this is only more proof in my growing file that you to are meant for each other."

Dwayne gave Seth a warning look not to continue.

"Hey, Dwayne," Seth began. "You know that your like the best friend a guy could have." Dwayne raised an eyebrow wondering where he was going with this. "I owe you so much. I should do you a huge favor!"

_Please Don't_

"You know what it's going to be? I proclaim right now that my life's work is to bring you two love birds together. I will stop at nothing to…" Just then the bell rang cutting Seth off. As Dwayne and Hannah started walking away to get there bags Dwayne pushed Seth into the wall.

The next three classes flew, and before she knew it she was out on the outside track, circling it to get to the bleachers that faced the school while back faced the road. Hannah looked for Dwayne threw the huge crowd that was the entire school population heading towards the bleachers. She ran her fingers along the chain link fence that separated the track from the field. Then she spotted Dwayne and Seth sitting near the very top in the middle of the huge silver bleacher. There heads were bobbing up and down slowly as they listened to something on Seth's CD player.

"Hey," Hannah said as she reached the top. She was a little breathless. Man, this thing had a lot of steps. The sky was dark like it was a few shades away from rain. The air was warm with a cool breeze.

"Good Day! The weather is 12 degrees and a chilly rain." Seth said and noticed her confused face, "In England. I went on last period."

"Well, that's very interesting. I like England. I would love to go to collage over there, and marry an Englishman. The English are so hot. But that's a pretty unrealistic vision. I don't have that kind of money. Besides there are plenty of hot guys right here." Hannah said as she took out some hair ties and started braiding her hair.

Down bellow one of the vice principals was talking into a microphone telling them about football or whatever trying to get them excited. "Now how excited are you!" Only the preppy kids cheered.

Once they were calmed down a little and the faculty members started saying something else Seth said, "Woo! I'm going to sleep. Wake me when it's over." And he laid down on the empty bleacher in front of them, hanging his earphones around his neck with the volume on full blast so Hannah could mostly hear what he was listening to.

Hannah had nothing better to do so she started watching the cheerleaders doing there sappy unoriginal cheers, and making fun of them. Then the football players ran onto the field in there orange uniforms.

"Athletes are so hot. Nice muscle and sweaty boys are so cute."

_Yeah but there all jerks. I especially don't like Ricky Velt._

"Which one's Ricky Velt?"

"Ricky, oh I don't like that kid. He's an ass." Seth said barely audible over his beats. "Dwayne, remember when I tripped him down the stairs last year?" Seth raised his hand and Dwayne gave him a high five.

"But, which one is Ricky?"

_Ummm… the center._

"Yeah, like I know what position that is. What number?" Hannah said squinting down at the field.

_Suckteen _

"Nice!" Seth said giving Dwayne another high five.

"So, sixteen?"

_Yep._

"So, changing subject. Do you think you could ever fall in love?"

_Sure I could. I only need the right girl who understands me._

"You already have the right girl you fool." Seth said with his eyes closed.

"I think being in love would be lovely."

_Of course it would be._

Then Seth belched excessively loud.

"Thanks for running a nice moment."

"That's what I'm here for! Just call it one more service I offer." Seth sat up and put his CD player in his bag. He must have though of another way to try and pressure Dwayne into asking her out. And Hannah's thoughts were correct. Only this time it was much more disturbing. "Hannah did I ever tell you that Dwayne is secretly my sexy man love."

"Wow," Hannah said threw fits of laughter. Now Seth was just trying to humiliate Dwayne into giving in. Dwayne covered his face in his hands for a moment before he scribbled

_Seth I am warning you! Leave me alone or you will regret it!_

"Oh yeah. You just know he likes it dirty." Seth told Hannah before dashing five feet down the bleacher to avoid Dwayne as he looked like he was about to come after him. Seth was laughing really hard, and so was Hannah. She was wrong, this game was fun.

Dwayne turned his back to Seth hoping that if he ignored Seth he would stop. No such luck. With Dwayne not looking Seth started mimicking humping the air. Hannah couldn't help but laugh out loud. Dwayne turned just as Seth stopped and didn't see anything. As soon as he tuned back Seth did it again. This time Dwayne turned quickly and caught a glimpse of Seth spanking the air.

With cat like reflexes Dwayne grabbed Seth's bag and jumped the three rows to the top of the bleachers with Seth on his trail telling him to give him his stuff. Dwayne pulled out a notebook and held it over the edge.

"I think he's trying to tell you to leave him alone. You know, or else. This is the else." Hannah narrated.

"What I didn't do anything. What, is it just because I said you liked her?" Dwayne dropped his notebook and pulled out a calculator. "Come on. Admit I'm right." There went Seth calculator, and Dwayne pulled out his CD player. "Not that! Anything but that! Not my baby!"

"I think Dwayne wants you to apologize or you baby plummets to its death."

"Fuck No!" And there went his CD player into the grass at least 20 feet bellow.

_I warned you._

"Fine, I'm sorry. Now it looks like it survived the fall. Now cover me while I go down to get her."

_Sure. Your clear._

"Wait, what are you doing?!?" Hannah asked as Seth swung his legs over the fence and started climbing down. "Don't, you'll fall and break you neck!"

"Shut up! Do you want me to get caught?" Seth whispered. "And by the way, a ninja never falls." And Seth began his decent.

"Are you actually okay with this?" Hannah asked Dwayne.

_Why should I care what he does?_

So Hannah had to try to watch inconspicuously as Seth climbed down, put his belongings in his pocket and started his accent. "Is it clear?" Seth said almost at the top. Dwayne nodded. Seth then made them move as he climbed over the edge. He was out of breath as he said, "Now that's army training for you."

Dwayne was bored the rest of the rally. The school should have known he didn't have any pep, at least none for this school. So he had to listen to Seth and Hannah's version of K.C. and the Sunshine Band.

"Baby babe. Let's get together. Honey honey. Me and you! And do the things. Do the things, that we like to do! Do a little dance, make a little love. Get down tonight! Get down tonight!" They made him laugh especially when they started doing this little dance in there seats. They were the best friends anybody could ask for. Too bad he wanted Hannah to be more than just his friend.

Finally they were allowed to leave. Hannah rushed ahead of Seth and him saying that she needed to go to her locker and would meet him on the bus.

"You know I really like her." Seth said as they went down the bleachers. "You know if you don't ask her out soon someone else will. Hey, want to hear a joke. Going…."

_How is that a joke?_

"It's a long joke. It's going to take some time. But trust me, your going to laugh someday at it. Trust me, it's a good one."

_Your insane._


	12. The Plays The Thing

**Author Note: I don't know if the parts I assigned my characters for the Midsummer's Night Dream play would work or not because I've never read or seen the play so, if I've screwed it up royally please don't get too mad. Also, I credit Shakespeare with Hannah's speech on stage. Well, Enjoy!**

The week that followed was hectic, but only for Hannah. Drama tryouts were Friday, and she was freaking out. She forced Seth into running lines with her, and Dwayne helped on her delivery.

"I'm going to mess it all up. I'm never going to remember it all!" Hannah said during there Friday Art class.

"What are you talking about, your marvelous." Seth said positively.

_You'll do just fine. You'll make it. Defiantly._

"You think so. All my other friends are trying out too. I doubt they have that many parts."

_It doesn't matter, your better than the lot of them._

"Thank you."

"There you two go again." Seth butted in.

"Don't even start. We've had such a lovely week without your interference."

"What do you mean lovely week? We've devoted all our time to helping you practice! What time did I even have to interfere? And don't forget that pamphlet about the play you threw at me on Monday."

Hannah rolled her eyes and ran her lines again. She had to stay after school that day to try out and Dwayne was staying after with her. He went down to the weight room, so Hannah waited nervously for her turn.

"Nervous?" A girl that was in front of Hannah turned and asked her.

"Of course. So nervous. Is it hot in here or is it just me."

"Yeah, it is roasting in here. I bet they took all the fans in there. Selfish people!"

Hannah laughed. "I'm Hannah by the way."

"Amanda."

"So what lines are you going to recite?"

"Oh, just something from Midsummer's Night Dream. What are you going to do?"

"Dwayne and Seth talked me into this long speech from Hamlet."

"Who are they?"

"Just some friends of mine."

"What speech? Get thee to a nunnery? To be or not to be? Alas poor yorick?"

"No, what piece of work is man."

"Interesting. Good luck." Amanda said this before she was called on stage.

"You too!" Hannah called after her. Hannah nervously read over her speech once more waiting for her turn. Her hands were trembling. She willed them to stop, and surprisingly they did.

"Next!" She heard a mans voice call from inside. She put her paper in her back pocket and walked on stage and walked around the curtains to center stage. Four judges sat in the middle of the audience with there notepads watching her with there eyes. EHHH!! Okay, relax; she told herself. The other contestants sat at the back of the audience whispering to each other. Hannah's Drama teacher, Mrs. Rumsfeld turned in her seat and gave them a look and they all suddenly fell silent and every eye in the room was now on her.

"Name," said the same man that has spoken before.

"Hannah Eve."

"And what will you be performing for us today?"

"Hamlet's what piece of work is man speech."

"Very good, proceed." The man said as he scribbled a note to himself.

"I have of late but wherefore I know not. Lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave overhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors. What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me."

Hannah curtsied at her last words showing her conclusion. The student population irrupted in applause before they were quieted by Mrs. Rumsfeld's stare. "Very good Hannah. You may take a seat. NEXT!"

Hannah hurried off the stage and back to where everyone else was sitting.

"Applause, applause, applause." Amanda said as Hannah sat next to her.

"Good job," said a boy in the row behind her who sat up to talk to her. He had black hair and sharp features. "Couldn't have done it better me self."

"Chris considers himself an actor."

"I'm so going to be a Broadway star!" Chris said.

"Shh!" said a brown haired boy who had a mousey face who was sitting next to Amanda. "The evil eye."

Hannah didn't understand what he meant at first until she turned around and just saw Mrs. Rumsfeld turning around. They must have done this before. These kids all seemed to know each other because they all whispered to each other in the smallest of voices as a blond boy recited some president's speech. Hannah paid less attention to 'Four score' and more to the kids around her.

In addition to the Amanda, Chris and the brown haired boy there was a girl with really fluffy brown hair whom Chris picked on while she tried to do some calculus homework. She must be a senior. There was a second brown haired boy only he had glasses and his nose in a book. There was a blond girl who was shuffling threw a bunch of cue cards and muttering about all the work that had to be done, and something about rutty actors and shotty craftsmanship. There were two twin brown haired boys who were muttering to themselves and pointing to something on a piece of paper they had between them. Then there was a boy with shaggy brown hair next to the wall who was wearing a black wife beater and had his feet on the chair in front of him trying to sleep or ignore and be ignored by the people around him. She also though she could see an earring under that mop of hair.

When the blond boy was done he came to where they were and she found out his name was Edwin. There were only five more contestants after Edwin. Valeri- a red haired girl, Thomas – a fluffy brown haired boy, and Elsa- a brown haired girl with very curly hair. And Hannah's Drama friends; Ali and Katie.

Then they had a fifteen minute break while the judges decided who would make it. Hannah desperately wanted to go find Dwayne to see what he was up to, but she felt she had better stay while Chris kept chatting her up, along with some of the others. And of course Ali and Katie had some catching up to do with her.

When the list came out Hannah realized they had more parts than actors so most boys got stacked with double parts. The cast list is as follows.

Chris as Puck and Tom Snout – he was ecstatic to get the lead. Amanda as Helena. Edwin as Lysander and Philosrate. Elsa as Robin Starveling. Thomas as Theseus and Peter Quince. Valeri got Hippolyta. Ali and Katie as the fairies Peaseblossom and Mustardseed. The twins Alex and Steven got Cobwed and Mote. The calculus girl, Kathleen, Kat for short, get Titania. Brown hair boy, Josh, got Demetrius and Francis Flute. Glasses boy, Kevin, was Egeus and Snug. Earring boy turned out as a Zack and got Oberon and Nick Bottom. Blond girl ended up being there props, set designer, and costume designer, and was only there to observe the actors so she could fix costumes to our frames.

Hannah of course got to be Hermia. Needless to say she was ecstatic. She couldn't wait to get out of there and find Dwayne. It itched at her as she was forced into a seat to listen to a little speech that the 4 judges gave.

"Come on, we hear this every year!" Zack complained aloud.

"But it is important, and we have a few new faces." Said there director Mr. Thomson.

They handed out scripts and told when all the rehearsal days were, and gave another little speech on punctuality and rules.

Finally Hannah was free. While the others gathered there bags and waited for rides, Hannah sprinted to the other end of school to find Dwayne. He was exactly where she though he would be, in the weight room.

As she dashed into the room she saw him getting a drink of water and getting ready to leave. She ran into his arms and gave him a large hug.

"I made it! I did it!" Hannah squealed, hugging him tight. She kissed his sweaty cheek as she pulled away and started jumped up and down.

_Congratulation. I told you, you would be amazing. Ready to go?_

"Sure, sure." Dwayne got his bag and they left. He started coughing as they went outside. Hannah liked it when he coughed because it was the closest thing she got to his voice, because he never sighed, hummed, or even cleared his throat. Hannah told him all about what happened, the people she met, and that they had more parts than actors.

"You know they need people to help on the set decorations. I thought you could help if you want. Since you're a great artist."

_Sure, I guess. I have noting better to do. And my homework's going undone anyway. This will give me an excuse. I'd love to._

Hannah spent the weekend at the Hoover residence. It was better than staying home and listening to her parents argue. They watched old movies and were forced into playing games with Olive.

When Monday rolled around she spent the entire lunch hour gushing to Seth about that she got the part!

"Yippy!" Seth said finding it hard to continue to come up with new remarks the 6th time around. Lunch was almost over and Hannah had talked the whole time. Someone walked by there table and tossed a flyer at them. "What's this? Homecoming dance." Seth read off the card, "Theme: Safari. That's original. 'Come have a killer time' Wow I'm impressed."

"It's this weekend?" Hannah asked eating the last of her pizza.

"Yeah, that's the 21st right?"

"Uh huh. Hey Dwayne. Want to go?" Dwayne nodded as he arose with the rest of the lunch room to leave. He gulped down the rest of his milk before he tossed it out. "I can't wait! Have you ever gone to a school dance before?" Dwayne shook his head no.

"Hell no," Seth said following them into the hall. "And what about me? Don't I get invited?"

"But I already asked Dwayne. You either find yourself a girlfriend, or go by yourself. They sell single tickets you know." Hannah latched her arms around Dwayne's arm and squeezed his arm. "I'm so happy. I already have a date."

"You two!" Seth started in again. "I'm not saying you like each other but there is defiantly something there." Seth changed his little routine so Dwayne wouldn't deck him.

As they walked into the Art room they took there usual seats and Seth rambled about something disturbing. Hannah didn't know because she wasn't listening.

Mrs. Ives marched into the room, late as usual and started talking. "Hey guys, listen up! Remember if you want to go on the field trip on Friday to the Art museum you need to turn your permission slips into me either today or tomorrow. Do Not Forget! If you need a new one, just ask me. I have more."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that." Hannah said rummaging threw her bag for hers. She had gotten it sighed and she was pumped about getting out of school.

"Damn it! I lost mine!" Seth complained.

As Hannah sat back up Dwayne offered his hand to take hers up for her. He had his in his hand and it was all crumpled up suggesting that it had been stuffed in his pocket all day.

"Hey, Dwayne. Get me another." Dwayne walked off to the front of the room. "I'll have to remember to get my dad to sign it tonight."

"This weeks going to be fun!"


	13. Bumpy Bus Rides

**Author Note: Thank you for all the reviews. Sorry that I haven't updated in awhile. My stupid computer crashed again. I hate that stupid machine! And to make matters worse, it crashed just when I was in the middle of this chapter, so I had to start from scratch. Ugh!! So it probably is not as good as the original. Anyway, I'm really surprised that all of you like Seth. He was my wildest character and I didn't think you guys would like him. But very glad you do! Because Seth is meant to be in the story a lot and meant to be wild and crazy, and its much easier to write for him the way he is meant to be when you guys like him. I think I'm going to start writing chapters from his POV soon, possibly. Maybe even a little bonus section where Seth addresses his fans. That would be a hoot. Seth is so conceded he needs no ego boost. Well, like always, I'm jabbered half the page away. So, Enjoy!**

Dwayne sighed as he looked out the window of the bus. Friday was finally here. It was too early to be awake. But they neared Hannah's street, so that lifted his spirits. It was also field trip day! Yippy! No classes today!

The bus pulled to a stop and Dwayne sat up waiting for Hannah to get there. She hopped onto the bus, last in line as usual. "Hello, Dwayne-o. Ready for the Art adventure?"

_Yes, and don't call me that! You know I don't like it._

"Oh come on Dwayne-o. I like your nickname. It like Romeo." Dwayne scowled at her. "Fine I'll try and think of something else. What a beautiful day in the neighborhood! A beautiful day in the neighborhood!" Hannah continued singing all the way to school.

"Hey," Hannah said as the bus pulled into the parking lot, "I need to go to my locker. I'll meet you in the Art room." Dwayne nodded as she got up to leave. "Bye-bye Dwayne-o" Hannah said and rushed into the crowed getting off the bus so he couldn't catch her.

Dwayne slowly stumbled his way towards the Art room, thinking. He had been thinking about Hannah a lot lately. Seth's words rung in his ears. 'If you don't ask her out, someone else will.' Maybe he should ask her out. But what if she said no. A friendship ended. That was the downside. But he didn't know if he could go on much longer without telling her how he felt. She had somehow pushed her way into his heart, he didn't know how, but she made him feel like no one else ever could. He would decide, soon.

He sat down at there usual table and didn't have to wait long before Hannah appeared out of breath, clutching a white paper in her hand.

_Did you win the marathon?_

"Shut up! Look what I found in my locker." Hannah handed him the paper in her hand. It was a note and it said;

Dear Hannah, you are all the stars in the sky and the moon over the brightest ocean. Your very beautiful, and I hope to get a dance with you this Saturday. Love, Your Secret Admirer.

Dwayne's skin started to boil with pure anger as he finished the note. It was all he could do not to clench his fists. If he ever found out who wrote this note… oh, they would pay! The fire of haltered grew inside of him, but if was Hannah's words that calmed him.

"So, what do you think?" Hannah asked with a look in her eyes as if his opinion really mattered to her.

_Apparently someone thinks you're the cat's meow. Just, don't go out with this guy. Promise me._

"Why not?"

_You don't know this guy. You should know a guy before you go out with him. You never know what might happen._

"I think you just have a bad case of the green eyed monster growing inside you. But I promise on pain of death that I will not go out with the guy that wrote this note."

_That's all I ask._

At that moment the bell rang and Seth entered the class. "Just in time! How about them apples, you can't write me up!" Seth said to Mrs. Ives as he passed. Mrs. Ives had been looking for a reason to write him up all week so she wouldn't be forced to take him on the field trip. She had tried to get his permission revoked because of the disaster that happened last year.

"I'm expecting your best behavior this time Seth, otherwise you'll sit in the bus the whole time. Understand me?"

"Understood." Seth plopped down at there table and Mrs. Ives focused her attention on some noisy freshmen.

Seth looked different today. He was wearing thin black framed glasses that highlighted his smoky gray eyes. He also was wearing fingerless weight lifting gloves that were fishnet on the back of his hands.

"Good morning starshine! The earth says hello!"

"Good day too you too Sethefer! I didn't know you wore glasses."

"Yeah, my contacts ripped last night. Fucking pissed me off. Took me an hour to find them. I kind of like them now. I think they make me look smarter. Or sexy. What do you think?"

"Umm, there nice."

"What! You don't think I'm sexy." Seth sounded hurt.

"Your very good looking Seth."

"Thank you, and top of the morning to you too, mate." Seth said slapping Dwayne on the arm.

_Do we have to keep out nicknames. There so fucking stupid._

"What's the matter with him?" Seth asked.

"He's just got his knickers in a twist because he doesn't like his nick name."

"Aw, well, he did get the short end of the stick didn't he. But I like mine, I'm keeping it."

_But yours are cool. Sethefer and Sweets are cool and cute nick names. Mine sucks._

"Well, I could always just start calling you pudgy again. You'd like that wouldn't you pudgy." Hannah coed at him.

"Quit calling me fat." Seth said clearly not paying one bit of attention as he played with his phone underneath the table.

_Dwayne-o is fine._

Seth flipped his phone shut and reached for Hannah's love note that lay crumpled on the table. "What's this?" Seth said starting to read it.

"Someone stuffed that in my locker. Who do you think did it?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say Dwayne did it."

_Don't blame that on me. If I **had **written it, it would rhyme. I love things that rhyme. Also, it wouldn't have so many misspellings, and that's not my handwriting. Case in point._

"Whatever just keep denying it." Seth said proceeding to spit the gum he was chewing into the note.

"Hey! What if I marry that kid someday and that would have been an awesome memento."

"First of all, don't say awesome. Second, not bloody likely."

"Maybe your right, or maybe your just an idiot."

"Don't call me an idiot."

"Hey were leaving." Hannah said. They had talked al the way threw Mrs. Ives be responsible young adults, your representing Tinstone High School, I'm trusting you, even though were not on school grounds I will write you up, speech.

"Come on Dwayne-o!" Seth called.

_Don't call me that!_

"Get over it! Wait, I know. I'll come up with a better nick name. One you will like, then I'll show you who the real idiot is!" Seth said this looking back at Dwayne and walked straight into the divider of the double doors leading to the parking lot. "Fuck! Ugh!"

"Seth!" Called Mrs. Ives. "Just give me a reason, I have the forms with me, and one already filled out with your information. Like I said, just give me a reason. No cursing."

"No cursing! Yeah you better remember that!" Seth said to some freshmen like it was them who said it. Then he proceeded to utter every swear in the book under his breath and then started conjugate the word fuck.

Hannah sat down next to Dwayne leaving Seth to try and fit on the 1/10 of the seat that was left. Seth pushed into Hannah trying to get more room.

"Why don't you sit somewhere else?"

"The only seats open are next to freshmen. I'm not sitting next to them."

"Why do you hate freshmen?"

_Don't get him started._

"Too late, it all started on a day like today. I was walking home from school, minding my own business when I was attacked by a freshman. It was horrible and arguably the worst experience of my life. So avoid them at all costs. They are like wild coyotes. Savage creatures who will eat anything in there path. True story, I saw these wild documentaries on an episode of National Geographic, Freshmen in the wild, Fact or Fiction You Decide, and Alien Encounters."

_Shut up and tell the truth._

The bus pulled out of the parking lot after another long rant by Mrs. Ives. Seth almost fell out of the seat and had to grip the seat in front of them to keep from hitting the floor. "How do you know that wasn't the truth? Okay, maybe those documentaries aren't out yet. But they are coming to a television near you. The government is just trying to silence those of us who know the truth. But our voices will be heard. We will not be silenced!"

"Shut up freshman aren't that bad."

"Oh yes they are. There short, really stupid, they talk too loud, think there all that, walk down the wrong side of the hallways, did I mention there short. I don't think I ever was one…"

_Don't listen to him. I don't think he took his meds today._

"You know," Seth began, "were like ass to ankles here. Hannah do you mind sitting on Dwayne's lap?"

Too Dwayne's surprise Hannah didn't argue and sat up and moved over so she was sitting on him. "Thank you." Dwayne gave Seth a terrified look as they started going threw a construction area on the highway, so the bus was bouncing really hard. Not to mention they got the seat right over the wheel. Hannah wasn't paying attention to them, but looking out the window so Dwayne wrote,

_Baseball! Cold Showers!_

Seth started laughing and Hannah turned around just as Dwayne flipped the page over.

_You know Seth, you are a freshmore. You don't have near enough credits to be a sophomore. _

"I happen to know a lot of people who are freshmore's and there pretty cool." Seth retorted.

They spent the rest of the hour long bus drive talking about the many conspiracy theories of Seth Maxium, jelly donuts and ground breakings. Until the bus pulled to a stop in the parking lot of the Art museum.

_Please don't act like a retard this year and hit on the museum curator. It's getting harder and harder pretending that you're my friend when you do that kind of crap._

"Don't worry. I'm not going to give Mrs. Ivy the satisfaction of catching me."

_What you just said does not ensure me of your good behavior to follow._

"Hey, you know what?" Seth began as they left the bus and stepping onto the wet pavement. "Last year I was kind of flying, so, since I'm not on anything, I think we'll be good. I hope."

_This is going to be a disaster._

"Shut up Dwayne-o," Seth yelled at him. "Want to her the second part of my joke?" Hannah wasn't with them at the moment, she was talking to some of her Drama friends.

_Why not?_

"Okay, part two, going…"

_I still don't get it._

"Your not supposed to, at least yet anyway. Were going in. Yes!"

Dwayne followed Seth into the marble room that lay behind two heavy oak doors. The room they were in was an entrance hall, filled with noting more that a few large statues and what looked like a large old fashioned airplane suspended from the ceiling. Wicked.

"That's pretty cool." Hannah said coming up behind Dwayne and seeing what he was looking at. "Is that made out of wood?"

_I think so._

They didn't get to talk any more because a woman in a brown track suit was telling them about the museum, and then led them into a room where they were forced to watch a movie over Art history that felt like it lasted forever, and Seth fell asleep, and snored threw Picasso. Hannah and Dwayne whispered and giggled to each other making fun of the movie.

When the movie was over they were free to explore the museum, and visit the many different exhibits until lunch which would be served by there food court and they would get free mini sandwiches. After many prods and pinches they finally got Seth to follow them out into the museum.

"The bright lights. They burn!" Seth complained.

They wondered into an empty room full of paintings and a few random sculptures. Dwayne and Hannah looked at the art while Seth complained about his feet hurting and how he would rather be selling lemonade by the highway.

"I like the water in this pitcher." Hannah mentioned.

"You know what, I would love to have that boat!" Seth said talking about the little motor boat in the pitcher. "If I had that boat I would sail the world and never touch land again. I would be excellent!" Seth's eyes glasses over as he imagined this.

"I don't think that dinky little boat would last on the ocean."

"Don't say that! You've hurt its feelings. She didn't mean it, ugh," Seth paused to read the sign and said, "Calm Summer Day in Arkansas." Seth started stoking the frame and Dwayne and Hannah moved along, leaving Seth to have him moment.

"Wait up you guys!" Seth said hurrying after them. They had stopped in front of a pitcher of a little shack in the woods. "Oh My God! It's my house! I'm famous!" Two elderly people walked into the room and Seth yelled at them. "Hey, Look! It's my house!"

"Is he serious?" Hannah asked Dwayne.

_No, I've been to his house. I've egged his house. That's not his house._

They had an hour left to kill after lunch and Hannah sat with Seth on a large wooden bench in the wing dedicated to pitchers of planes. Her feet were hurting so she had taken off her shoes. Dwayne was circling the room studying the pitchers, so it was just her and Seth.

"So, I showed Dwayne the note you wrote. It didn't work, he still hasn't asked me out."

"Give him some time. He's mulling it over. You two will be together soon enough. I'm a master at mind games. I'm glad you told me you liked him. It makes it easier for me to try and convince him when I know the truth."

"I don't think he likes me."

"Sure he does." Seth said sliding onto the floor and laying on his back staring at the ceiling. "He's just unsure weather or not you like him. Also he's horrible at making rash decisions. He likes to look at every angle of something before he jumps."

"I just hope your right." Some patrons of the arts were walking by and gave Seth a curious and disgruntled look.

"I love his work." Seth said referring to the ceiling. "It's beautiful!" Seth said choking up some fake tears. They slowly walked away. "You know what I'm going to do." Seth said turning his head to the side so he was looking at her with his big green eyes. "I have an idea. Let me go test said hypothesis. Be right back." Seth got up and dashed over to the other side of the room where Dwayne was at.

Hannah saw Seth say something to Dwayne. He nodded. Then Seth whispered something to him which Dwayne looked very angry about and looked over to where she was sitting. Oh no, did he tell him about her feelings for Dwayne. Dwayne grabbed Seth by the collar and drug him into the hallway. What were they talking about?

Dwayne was studying a group of photographs of a variety of different planes when he heard someone stomping over to him. It was Seth, he muttered hi, as he stopped next to him.

"Hey can I ask you something?" He nodded. What was it this time? "Umm, your not going to like this," Seth whispered. "Would you mind terribly if I asked Hannah out?"

Dwayne's eyes grew wide in anger. He pursed his lips in a straight line as he looked over at Hannah who was staring intently at him. He grabbed Seth by the collar, not wanting to cause a scene when he beat the crap out of him, and pulled him into the less crowded hallway.

"Watch the shirt man!"

_What the hell! No! Your not going to ask her out! _

"What's stopping me when you obviously don't like her."

_That's not true. I do like her. A lot. And your not going to ask her out! Understood!_

"I never was going to ask her out. You've just been punk'd, bitch!" Seth added at Dwayne's confused face. "Listen," Seth said wrapping his arm around Dwayne's neck pulling him close so only he could hear. "Hannah really likes you. Before you say anything, yes, she did tell me. Earlier this week. And now I know for sure you like her too. So now you have to ask her out."

_I need to think about this._

Dwayne pulled away from Seth at sat on the floor. She liked him! She really, really liked him. Or was Seth lying again?

"Whatever. I have some ceiling gazing to get back to. So have fun."

Hannah nervously bit her nails waiting for Seth to come back. He came back in good time, and didn't look like a blooded pulp. So that was a good sign, but he was alone.

"What the hell did you just do? Where's Dwayne!"

"Nothing," Seth said lying back down on the floor. "He's thinking. Let's just say the dance tomorrow should be rather eventful, if I do say so myself."


	14. Falling in love with you

**Author's Note: Hope you like it. Please Review. Enjoy!**

"Put something nice on for the dance, god damn it! I want nice pitchers!" Sheryl's yell echoed threw out the house.

Dwayne was lying on his bed trying to ignore her when she let out an earsplitting yell, trying to get him to unlock his door. Dwayne laid the book he was reading on his face and plugged his ears with his fingers. Sheryl had been yelling herself horse for the last hour trying to get him to dress up. He was not going to fucking dress up for this school function that Hannah was forcing him into. He glanced at his clock. She would be here in a few more minutes.

He got up and looked out the window. It was just there normal street. A brown car drove by, then a red Honda, then Hannah's car appeared and stopped at the end of there driveway. He dashed to his door and threw it open, shocking Sheryl who had stopped yelling to help Olive find her favorite socks.

He got to the front door just as Hannah reached the front steps. "Hello!" Hannah said reaching the front door. Dwayne just smiled. Hannah was wearing a pretty red strapless dress that had black flowers and black fishnet poking out from the bottom.

"Dwayne!" Sheryl screamed from inside the house. "You had better change into something nice or your grounded!"

"Better go get ready." Hannah teased as she walked past him and into the living room.

_Did I invite you in?_

"Ha, ha very funny." Hannah said poking him in the stomach as she went to the couch.

"Dwayne, change Now!" Sheryl yelled from a back room. He had no choice but to follow her orders, so he stalked to his room while Hannah giggled at him from the couch. He quickly changed into a blue button up shirt he had never worn before, but was sure ha had had it for at least two years, and a large brown jacket. It didn't fit him too well, but he just had to have mom see him leaving the car in it and he would be good to go.

When he was ready he went to the living room only to find it empty. He heard Sheryl humming in the kitchen while she made dinner. A rare moment in the Hoover household. So he knew Hannah wasn't in there, Sheryl never hummed when she had an audience.

So he wondered around the house looking for her. He did find her eventually. In Olive's room, where Olive and Hannah were jumping up and down on the bed laughing. Dwayne smiled as he saw them, and in that moment he realized something. He didn't just like Hannah, he was in love with her.

He left the doorframe and laid himself flat on the wall next to the door, trying to catch his breath. Why did he do these things that he did to himself? He was just making the inevitable ten times harder for himself. How was he going to be able to ask her out now? He knew he would let the L word out with a slip of his pen, and she would freak out, think he was a weirdo. Why did these things always happen to him?

"What are you doing out here?" Hannah asked as she came to the door seeing him sitting on the floor. "I like that jacket. Just one question? How many people are you smuggling in it?" Hannah asked giving him a hand up.

They made it out of the house roughly ten minutes later only after at least 10 forced pitchers by Sheryl, a hunt for the car keys, and Sheryl gushing over how handsome he looked. Hannah liked that part. Dwayne scowled at her.

They pulled up to the school five minutes after eight. There was already a long line to get into the cafeteria where the dance would be held. Sheryl must have asked them 20 times on the way there if they still had there tickets, but she just couldn't resist asking once more.

"You have your tickets?"

"Yes, there in our hands."

"Now you kids have fun. Don't party too hard, and I'll be back at eleven to pick you up." They opened the doors and started climbing out of the back seat of the little neon, that was about to be sold because Richard couldn't afford the payments. "Dwayne, have fun."

Dwayne shut the door and looked at the little car just sitting there, waiting to get out of the packed parking lot.

"Ready?" Hannah asked as they started walking up towards the school. Dwayne shrugged. They hadn't taken but a few steps when someone stepped out of the shadows towards them.

"Hey trouble makers." Seth said taking a drag off his cigarette and letting the smoke drift upwards towards the starry sky.

"You know your not supposed to do that on school property." Hannah said in a tattle tale voice.

"Does it look like I fucking care. Are you going to tell on me, narc?"

"I thought I told you to stop. It's a filthy habit and…"

"I'll get lung cancer, mouth cancer, brain cancer, testicular cancer, ass cancer, exploding kidneys."

"I never said half of that."

"Yeah, but I know you were thinking it." Seth said taking another drag before tossing it to the ground and crushing it with his shoe. They wondered over to the line while Seth and Hannah argued some more.

"I told you, I'm trying to quit. But it's very hard."

"I know, I know. But I think you need to try a little harder."

As they neared the doors they could already hear the music pumping from inside.

"So who's your date Seth?"

"No one. I'm flying solo tonight. Unless Dwayne wouldn't mind sharing his date?" Dwayne shrugged as he stood on his toes trying to see over the sea of retards in front of them.

"Yay, I have too dates." Seth wrapped his arm around Hannah's shoulder and Dwayne rolled his eyes as they took one step forward. "You know you smell like an ash tray." Hannah said pulling away from him to stand next to Dwayne.

"I feel like an ash tray."

They made there way to the front of the line and Dwayne handed there tickets and ID's to the woman behind the folding table. She looked at them and checked something off a list and handed it all back to him.

They were in the hallway that ran along side the cafeteria, and the music was even louder in here. Groups of people stood here and there, and Dwayne handed Seth back his ticket and ID, keeping Hannah's since she didn't have any pockets, coat or purse.

They walked into the Cafeteria, which was darker with only a few neon lights here or there. There was a huge DJ stand set up, the room was already pretty crowded, but Dwayne knew they were early and that it would get fuller soon. The music really was overly loud, and he could feel it vibrating threw his chest. Even worse, it was bad Rap music that was being played.

Hannah put her hands over her ears and dashed to the other end of the room where it was less crowded. It was also where her Drama friends were hanging out, along with the other kids in school who were less popular. This was where they belonged.

Dwayne took off his coat and tossed it on one of the few table they had left standing.

_You know I think they need to turn the music up, I can't hear it!_

"That's a good one." Seth said taking a seat at the table Dwayne had tossed his jacket on. Hannah returned moments later grinning from ear to ear.

"Come on you guys, it's a dance. Let's go dance!" Seth ignored her and started drumming his fingers on the table. Dwayne shook his head no and sat down next to Seth. "Come on Dwayne. Dance with me. Your not such a bad dancer. I bet we could teach Seth too."

_I don't feel like making an idiot out of myself in front of people I know._

"Oh come on. You've never had a problem with making an idiot out of yourself before!" Hannah stomped her foot, pouting that no one would dance with her.

"I'll dance with you." Seth said getting up. "I don't care what people think of me."

Hannah went out into the dance area to dance with Seth and left Dwayne fuming all alone. When the song ended they came back and Hannah drug him out onto the dance floor.

Even though they hadn't been there very long, they were already burning up. The place was like a sauna.

"It's roasting in here." Seth said when they were dancing all together. Dwayne nodded as he did the robot. Hannah always laughed when he did it. He really was sweating though. He had already unbuttoned the cuffs on his shirt and pushed them up.

"I'm in a dress with my hair up, and I'm still really hot." Hannah complained tugging on her pigtails and started fanning herself with her hands.

**Change of Perspective. Rewind.**

"I'll dance with you." Seth said getting up and stretching his legs. "I don't care what people think of me." And he really didn't. Seth wrapped his arm around Hannah and led her to the dance floor. He noticed that she looked back at Dwayne.

"I still maintain the fact that he doesn't like me, yet, anyway."

"Oh, he's in love with you. He told me so. Gust give him a little more time." Seth said as they began slow dancing.

"Maybe your right, but I'm just tired of waiting. If he likes me like you say, why hasn't he done anything?"

"Because he's shy."

"We all know that. But… I just don't know. I'm just not sure if I want to wait around forever."

"Just give it a few more days. Trust me." Seth said as the song stopped and they walked back to Dwayne who didn't look too happy with him. The angrier Dwayne got the faster he might make his decision. "Thanks for the dance I promised in that letter." Seth whispered when they were still out of Dwayne's ear shot.

"No problemo."

Another hour and a half went by and they were hotter than ever and also tired from busting moves. They had pulled there chairs in a little half circle by the table they had put there coats on. They talked quietly about a few things, but mostly listened to Seth's impressions.

"You can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man. No time to talk." They laughed as Hannah took a sip of the water she had gotten from the fountain outside. Seth saw someone coming towards them out of his peripheral. It was Ricky Velt. He tapped Hannah on the shoulder, whom wasn't paying attention to her atmosphere, and asked her for a dance. It also sucked that it was a slow song that was currently playing.

Hannah gave Dwayne and him a questioning look, as if asking them what to do. They gave her pleading looks. She ignored them and said yes to there enemy. Dwayne look like he was about to explode as he watched Hannah trot off to the dance floor with the person he hated most. Seth was with him on that one. This wasn't right. He bet that Hannah was just trying to make Dwayne jealous. She was doing well at that, if that's what she intended. But what is up with Ricky? Why was he suddenly interested in Hannah?

_We should do something._

Dwayne had his fists clenched, he was very angry. They did have to do something. "I have an idea. Follow my lead, and stand about there." Seth pointed out the mark for Dwayne and walked directly towards where Hannah was giggling because Ricky had told her some sort of joke. Soon the joke would be on Ricky.

They didn't notice him as he approached, he tapped them both on the shoulder to get there attention. Ricky looked like he was about to deck him, Hannah smiled.

"May I cut in?" Hannah smiled. Her eyes twinkling.

"Why should I let you?" Ricky asked in that voice of his.

"Because I'm her date." Ricky didn't get a chance to respond because Hannah let go of Ricky and started dancing with him instead. Seth stuck his tongue out at him as they waltzed away.

"What the hell is this about?" Hannah asked threw a fake smile.

"Just this," Seth said suddenly stopping. "I'm parched. I need a drink. Here, dance with Dwayne." Hannah gave a genuine smile as he passed her off to Dwayne. "You kids have fun." Seth said patting them on the shoulder before dashing off to the drink stand. He got what looked to be raspberry punch, but was actually spiked raspberry punch. It tasted good either way.

He stood on the edge of the crowd admiring his work when Ricky turned up next to him, also sipping the spiked punch.

"What the fuck was that about Maxium?"

"Just doing my job. Making sure who's meant to be together is together."

"I don't think there meant to be together. She disserves more than that pussy."

"Oh Ricky, your just upset because she likes Dwayne more than you. So, Suck It Looser!"

"I'm warning you Maxium. You and Hoover better not get in my way."

"What way is that? You want Hannah? Well get in line."

"This isn't over! She will be mine."

Seth tossed his punch right on Ricky's white shirt. "Well, look at that. I didn't see you standing there."

"Your dead Maxium!"

"I don't think so, it was an accident. I tripped." Seth smiled at him, knowing he wouldn't touch him when there were teachers swarming the place.

"You better watch your back. Yours and Hoover's." Ricky marched away.

"Yeah, you better run! _Jackass._" Seth smiled to himself as he watched Hannah and Dwayne, not knowing that the peace they had all grown used to was about to go up in flames.


	15. Betrayed

Dwayne awoke on Monday with a spring in his step and a song in his heart. Why? Because he had decided to ask Hannah out today. No more waiting. He ran over what he was going to write over and over again in his head while he was getting ready, eating breakfast, and waiting at the bus stop. He was as light as air with anticipation. She would say yes. He knew she would. If not, well then Seth was going to be eating knuckle sandwiches for lunch.

The bus was on time, and they made it to Hannah's street quickly, the only thing was she didn't make it on the bus today. That was curious. Maybe she was sick. He hoped not. But if not that, why wasn't she here?

He wondered about this threw out his entire first period and became more and more worried about her. When the bell rang he scurried out the door, determined to make it to second hour quickly to see if Hannah was there. He dashed quickly around a corner and ran straight into Seth.

"Hey, man, I was looking for you. I need to tell you something."

_Can't talk now. Got to get to class to see if Hannah's here. You know, about what I said. I'm going to ask her out today, you know, if she's here._

"Yeah, about that. Forget it. She's here alright, and a filthy little bitch." What the hell was he on about?

_Are you stoned?_

"No I'm not stoned. Or shit faced or flying off the gas leak in the chemistry hall. Yeah, that's another thing, don't go down there. Or light a match in the school, its spreading."

_Whatever, why are you saying these things about her? She's a lovely girl._

"I don't think so. I mean, I used to, but, Dwayne, you need to hear this. She betrayed us. As of, 8:13 she's going out with Ricky Velt."

Dwayne's jaw dropped open as he tried to process this. Seth must be lying to him. But why would he lie about this? And he looked very serious. He started to ask if he was serious, but he scribbled that out and asked instead;

_How do you know this?_

"You know she missed the bus this morning. Her mom dropped her off. I walk to school and was hanging out front of school with my other friends."

_You mean your stoner friends._

"I don't judge your friends!"

_You just did. Continue,_

"Anyway, I was smoking with the _stoners _as you like to call them. I like to call them Annie, Heather, Asshole with the hat, Ja…"

_GET ON WITH IT! Please._

"Anyway, Hannah was walking up towards the school, and Asshole with the hat pointed out that Ricky, or as we like to call him 'the kid with AID's', was on out turf. He went over to Hannah and they started talking. I went over there to tell him to leave or I was going to introduce my shoe to his anal cavity and I over heard him ask her out. She said yes, Dwayne. It's over. I'm sorry."

Dwayne let his bag slip off his arm and onto the floor. He soon followed putting his head in his hands. This couldn't be true. Hannah wouldn't do this, would she?

"Come on dude," Seth said speaking slowly, "you got to get up. People are staring, and I want to hit someone, so let's go."

Dwayne didn't remember getting to his feet, but he did and trotted down the hallway like a mindless zombie. He didn't really feel anything at the moment, but he knew it would hit him like a train later. He would try to keep it together at least for the next seven or so hours. He wouldn't let her see him hurting, and he needed to talk to her. He need to make sure this was true.

"Welcome to my world Dwayne. Betrayalvill, population you. What you need to do is…" Seth was drowned out by the shrieking of the fire alarm, or the tornado drill. All they knew was it was loud and they all started herding towards the exits.

_I though you made that up._

"No, it is very real. And apparently it caught on fire too. Awesome." They went outside, it was bitter cold. Why did he have to wear short sleeves today? He folded his arms across his chest trying to keep warm. People crowded out into the parking lot and even though there were people all around him, he couldn't seem to get warm. He tossed his bag on the ground and started jumping in place to keep his heat up. He swore he was cold blooded, because he was always freezing.

"Stop that dude, your making me nervous." Seth said not looking cold at all. "Now the finer points of making a girl jealous are getting with another girl and fast. Preferably, one of her best friends."

_What the hell are you talking about? I don't want to make her angry just yet, I don't even know if what you told me is true._

"Well, see for yourself, she's heading this way. I suggest either run or look busy." Seth said wiping out a book from one of his large pockets and flipped it open to a random page and started pretending to read. His eyes flickered up every few seconds to watch Hannah's progress towards them.

Dwayne followed Seth's glare into the crowd. At first he saw nothing, but then he saw her. At first he thought she was alone, but then he saw Ricky Velt close behind. She spotted him and waved. He didn't wave back or even showed any signs of noticing her. As they emerged from the crowd he saw her holding his hand. This confirmed it. He felt his stomach lurch and his heart sink.

He looked away from her and started pretending to observe his surroundings. "Good morning Dwayne. Sorry I missed the bus this morning." Dwayne saw her out of the corner of his eye and she was still holding his hand. "Kudos to whoever is trying to burn down the chemistry lab. Makes our classes shorter and maybe gets me out of Chemistry the rest of the year."

"You have a sick sense of humor, babe." Ricky said in that slimy vile voice of his. How could she do this? He felt his tongue swelling in his mouth and his throat closing on him, desperate to cry, desperate to feel. But he refused to, not here. Please, not here. This was the last thing he needed. His bit his tongue, he wouldn't. His will was stronger than this.

He started rubbing his arms to try and get warm, still ignoring her. "What's wrong? Why won't you talk to me?"

"Maybe we should talk about this later?" Seth said eying Ricky who wasn't paying attention.

"Sure," Hannah started but was cut off by her new boy.

"Let's go. Marisa and Tommy are waiting."

"Okay, bye guys." Hannah yelled as he pulled her away and Dwayne heard Ricky say, 'Why do you hang out with those freaks?'

He clinched his fists in anger. "You did well mate. Hey, it looks like were going to the Football field. I guess they can't get the valve shut off."

The next two hours went by in a blur, but only for Dwayne. The rest of the school was alert and excited, especially when they saw the Chemistry lab go up in a ball off flames. Mr. Gibbins, there chemistry teacher, looked like he was going to have a heart attack when they saw the fireballs over the school. Fire trucks surrounded the school, and the student body cheered them on, and clapped. While all of this was going on, all Dwayne could do was glare hatefully at Hannah and Ricky.

They were eventually ushered back into the school with the instructions that all classes on the west wing would now meet in the concert hall. Dwayne moped threw the halls next to Seth, who had actually been reading the whole time, neither of them really wanting to go to class. They had stopped next to the office while Seth put his book in his bag.

"Stop moping dude. Your bringing me down. I'm sorry for you and all, but I told you this would happen." Seth said knelling on the floor zipping his bag. "Hey, want to hear the end of that joke?" He said standing. Dwayne nodded sadly. "Your so emo. Anyway, Going, Going, Going, and she's gone! Get it?"

Dwayne did get it, so he punched Seth in the arm, and turned and walked away.

"Come on, that was funny!" Seth said following him. "Your not really mad at me you know! Your just mad at yourself! But you know what, go ahead, have a nice long hate! I'm used to it!" Seth yelled after him as he started climbing the stairs.

Hannah wasn't in the room yet. That was good. The less he had to see her the better. But of course she turned up, and wanting to talk, to explain herself. He didn't want to hear her, so he ignored her, pretending like he didn't hear anything.

"Why won't you look at me?" The hole in his chest was widening. "What did I do? I'm sorry. Why are you doing this to me?" He squirmed in the seat as the bell rang and the teacher entered the room and started talking. "We'll talk in lunch. Won't we?"

It was so hard to try and be mean to her, but his hurt was very great. He loved her after all. He nodded as the tears welled in his eyes, making it hard to see, but they didn't overrun, so that was one thing.

Lunch came sooner than his liking, he didn't want to do this. He floated into the cafeteria like a ghost, and thought, 'fuck food, I couldn't eat it anyway.'

Hannah sat down across from him looking him in the eyes. She didn't say anything, so he started.

_How could you do it?_

"He asked me out, I said yes. I don't see what's such a big betrayal about that? I wanted a boyfriend, so I got one."

_Hannah, he's the biggest asshole at our school. He doesn't like you, he just wants to nail you so he can brag to all his friends. Don't do anything your going to regret, because he is going to leave you._

"What! I'm not going to sleep with him! I'm not a whore!"

"Well you sure are acting like one." Seth said sitting down next to Dwayne chomping on an apple. "Even if you don't want to, he'd going to pressure you into it. I agree with Dwayne. This is not a good idea."

"I don't see how any of this is up for a vote. It's my choice, my life, and I like him. Besides, people are not there labels. You guys should know that better than anyone else! I don't see in him what you guys do."

"Your ruining all my plans! You agreed to wait!" Seth said threw gritted teeth.

"Your plans were never going to happen. It was a lovely idea, I nice dream, but we have to face it. I guess were just not meant to be together." Hannah said the last to Dwayne. He saw something in her eyes that he hadn't ever seen before. Behind the tears that were running down her cheeks, he saw love in her eyes. Not for Ricky, but for him. She loved him, just as much as he loved her. But she thought that he didn't care, wanted to make him jealous, was why she had done this. He bet she didn't even like Ricky, she didn't want Ricky, she wanted him. But he was too stupid to see it before, he just had to wait, to be sure, and he ran out of time. It was all his fault and he had to deal with it.

At Hannah's last words, she got to her feet and ran from the room crying with her hands over her face.

"I need to be unconscious." Seth said putting his head down on the table. Dwayne needed sugar, in concentrated form. That always helped him go into a state of not caring. He was glad he brought money today. He went to the snack stand and opened the little fridge that held the drinks. He looked at the backs of all the energy drinks and bought the one with the most sugar, which ended up not being an energy drink but some kind of fruit punch, berry mix thing.

Seth and Dwayne got to Art before Hannah and sat talking about random things to keep his mind off his real problem. "The guy was standing on the roof of his carport demanding jelly donuts from the cops." Dwayne laughed at this, but saw Hannah walking towards them and his smile faded. She looked like she was feeling better, and ready to give there friendship another try. Too bad she poked the sleeping dragon in the eye with a red hot poker.

"Away traitor!" Seth yelled brandishing a ruler at her like a sword. She dodged it and ran around the table taking a seat next to Dwayne.

_So what happened?_

"Oh, they shot him with a tazer. He's in jail." He said smacking the metal ruler on the table.

_You sure have crazy neighbors._

"What are you guys talking about?" Hannah asked.

"None of your business, traitor!" Dwayne folded his arms on the table and laid his head down. Seth and Hannah continued to have a conversation about betrayal, backstabbing, and wanting to be friends again, and second chances.

"Well, we might discuss a cease fire if you dump dancing monkey boy."

"No!"

"Your dead to me."

"Your being a jerk."

"Dwayne do you hear anything? Because I sure don't." Dwayne sat up a little and saw Hannah stick her tongue out at Seth who started snapping crayons in half that were lying on the table and flicked them at her.

"Hey!" Hannah said ducking the flying hunks of wax. Dwayne caught one out of the air that was aimed for her face. Hannah smiled at him, and her eyes lit up.

_Let's not waste the Art supplies._

"Shut up Dwayne." Seth said, "Hey, want to leave? This room is giving me claustrophobia." He nodded and followed Seth out of the room, leaving Hannah all alone for the next two periods. They stood outside on the grounds under the bleachers. Seth smoked and complained about the school system while Dwayne read to get his mind off things.

He was forced to go to Health, because Seth said he couldn't afford to miss anymore English or he would be written up. Hannah said she was worried about him and asked him where he went. He didn't answer her, but just stared at the chalk board.

The bus ride home was even more uncomfortable. They didn't speak to each other, and when he got home he went straight to his room and tossed himself on the bed, ready to let out all his built up emotion from the day. He didn't quite feel like crying so he wailed his arms agents the bed until the hurt and then he broke down and sobbed into his pillow trying to make as little noise as possible. After about a minute he stopped, and looked over at the clock with blurry eyes. It was weird to think only twelve hours ago his life was so much different.


	16. It's the little things

**Author's Note: Sorry it's a short chapter. But the next one's going to be huge. So, I hope you like it. Please review. Enjoy!**

The rest of the week was complete agony for Dwayne. Everyday he had to deal with seeing Hannah with another man. Ricky flaunted it too, rubbed it in his face. Seth got a new girlfriend, so he barley saw him anymore. He had never felt so alone.

Hannah wanted to be friends with him still, but he didn't know if he could handle it. Because every time he saw Ricky he wanted to punch him in the face. Hannah would never approve of that.

He had pleaded with Hannah as much as he could and only stopped when he got her on the verge of tears. He got to her every time by telling her that she didn't really want to date him.

This is where they were at on Friday in Art.

_Fine, Friends again._

"Yay, thanks for brightening my day." Hannah said leaning over and hugging him. "I was getting tired of all our feuding this week. I hate it when your not my friend. It's like my worlds in pieces."

_Me too, but there is one thing. Please reconsider Ricky._

"Please stop asking me to. I'm sorry you don't like him, but there's nothing you can say that will make me break up with him."

"How much you want to bet?" Seth said finally entering the conversation, and taking a break on his nap time.

"I'm not betting anything. I don't want to break up with him."

"Yeah, and I don't want a million dollars."

_And I love my family._

"Quit being mean to me you guys."

"Fine, then I'm going back to sleep." Seth said dropping his head down on the table.

"Dwayne, don't forget about tonight." Hannah said drawing flowers all over her notebook.

_Huh?_

"Don't tell me you forgot. You promised to come help with the props after school for my play. Please don't tell me your chickening out."

_I'll be there. Just one thing._

"It had better not be about Ricky. Because I'm this close to hitting you."

_No, can you call my mom and tell her I'm not coming home._

"Oh, sure. Sorry about threatening you."

_No problem. By the way. I hate Ricky._

"I know."

----------------

The job turned out to be grueling labor. That bitchy girl Jamie, who was in charge of giving him things to do. Dwayne was sure she loved to watch him suffer. She strutted around like she owned the place and loved to tell her underlings they were doing things wrong. Dwayne had the job of painting trees until they were too green for Queen Jamie. Then he pained clouds until they were too fluffy. So she gave him the job of carrying boxes down from the stages attic. A job he supposedly he couldn't screw up. All the boxes were covered in eons of dust, grime, and dead spiders. It was dirty and stuffy up there and a little easily breakable latter was his only means of up and down. His white shirt was covered in brown dust, and he was sure it was smeared on his face, arms and hands too.

Hannah would give him sympathetic looks whenever she caught his eye. When practice was almost over, Hannah pulled him aside.

"Dwayne, can you go get Ricky for me? He was supposed to get out of Track practice 10 minutes ago, I wonder what's keeping him."

_If he was a good boyfriend he would be here._

"Please Dwayne." Hannah pushed out her bottom lip and batted her eyes. How could he say no to that? He just nodded and started to take a step forward when Hannah threw her arms sound him in a large hug. "Thank you, Dwayne. You're the best." Hannah said smooching him on the cheek. "Eww…" Hannah said wiping her mouth. "You really need to get cleaned up." Hannah said pulling her sleeve down over her hand and wiping his cheeks off. Then she sent him off on his quest.

Dwayne didn't really want to go find Bitchy Richey. If he had half a mind at all he would leave right now. But he loved Hannah and would do whatever she asked of him. He looked out the door for poor Ricky, but didn't see him. He suppressed a sigh as he pushed the door open and stuck his notebook in it before it closed all the way so he could get back in.

He tuned the corner and to his surprise and great astonishment and amusement, he saw Ricky immediately. But he was by far not alone, for he was locking lips with one of his team mates. Viola Kensington if he remembered correctly.

Dwayne quickly back stepped around the corner and let his mouth hang open wide with shock. Ricky was cheating on Hannah. Oh what a great day this was. The stars had aligned in his favor, for once.

He had to go tell Hannah. He quickly and silently dashed back inside almost forgetting his notebook. When he got back down to the drama stage, he heard Hannah backstage before he got there, practicing pronunciation.

"Huntington Harvard Hates Pickled Haring. How Now Brown Cow." Dwayne tripped over a bucket of wires as he approached and Hannah turned and saw him. "Hey Dwayne, where's Ricky? I sent you to get him!"

_Yeah, about that. Listen, Hannah. I just saw Ricky, and he's c_

Hannah grabbed the pen from his hand. "I don't care about what your accusing him of this time. I know you've made it all up. Can't you just leave the two of us alone for a day?" He grabbed his pen back.

_Hannah, you don't understand. I saw him_

"Dwayne. I don't want to hear it." She handed his pen back and he scowled at her. "Please understand. Since he's not here, let's just walk home." Hannah said and Dwayne heard the sad in her voice.

At that moment Jamie walked backstage and saw the mess Dwayne made by tipping that bucket over and started screaming again. "Just look at the mess you made. You're a heathen! You've been a disaster for the first moment! Come clean this up right this minute!" Dwayne flipped her off as he walked out the door with Hannah. Hannah rubbed his back sympathetically as they walked home together.

----------

School Monday came quickly. Hannah and Dwayne were walking down the hall and Hannah was explaining these awesome plaid pants she saw at the mall over the weekend when they saw Ricky up ahead in the hall. Dwayne started to turn to leave.

"Dwayne, wait. Don't run off." Hannah said as she approached Ricky.

"Hey babe. Where the hell were you on Friday? I waited for you." Ricky started in right away.

"I sent Dwayne to look for you, _**he said he couldn't find you**_!" Hannah said this last part turning to Dwayne and smacking him on the arm. Dwayne looked over at Ricky and knew by his expression that he realized that Dwayne had caught him, and obviously hadn't told yet.

"Hannah, will you excuse me. I need to talk to Dwayne, alone." Ricky grabbed Dwayne by the collar and drug him off to a little alcove and made sure Hannah hadn't followed before he began. "Don't you dare tell her what you saw. You forget about it!"

_Why should I?_

"Because if you don't, your going to be dead. I'm warning you Hoover. One word. You leave us alone." Then he pushed Dwayne into the wall and stalked off to be with Hannah.

Dwayne wanted to hit something, particularly someone. But he restrained himself. During Chemistry, that was taking place in the cafeteria, he told Seth what had happened when they were supposed to be reading.

"You need to tell her!" Seth practically shouted. "This is your chance." Seth wisped after he got a stern look from the teacher.

_She doesn't want to know. So I'm not going to tell her. She chose this._

"But you love her. You don't want her to get hurt." Seth wadded up the notes he had been taking a tossed it at a prep that had tried to shush him. "You care about her."

_I'm not sure if I want to anymore._


	17. That count

**Authors Note: New Chapter! I really think this chapter has it all, the first part is really just some Hannah and Dwayne fluff I wrote, and it has Seth's antics to lighten up the dark mood overshadowing the chapter, so Enjoy!**

The next two weeks were like hell for Dwayne. He never did tell Hannah what he had seen. Even if he tried, she shot him down. Seth even tried to get threw. She was like stone, and she was sinking fast. He started talking to her less and less. He probably looked normal on the outside, but on the inside he was writhing in agony because he couldn't save her. Each day it was harder to be around her and not scream out that he loved her.

She confided in him everyday, things like she still hadn't kissed him, and he was getting angry. That made him laugh. At least Ricky wasn't getting what he wanted. That was one thing. But because of him, he spent less and less time with her.

But Hannah still declared that Saturday was there time. And this particular Saturday, Hannah came over later than usual, for movie night. They had to sit threw an hour and a half of a dog that could skateboard for Olive before it was her bedtime and they could watch scary movies.

Dwayne took great pride in the fact that he could scare Hannah out of her skin, and quite often. She was very jumpy. She also hated scary movies and always made sure he had no circulation in the arm nearest her for about two hours.

They had paused House of Wax long enough for Hannah to make herself some popcorn. She waited in front of the microwave as the seconds slowly ticked by. Dwayne got tired of just sitting there, so he snuck into the kitchen and grabbed her from behind. She screamed as he lifted her off the ground for a moment. When she had her feet firmly planted on the ground again she started hitting him, explaining how that wasn't funny.

They went back to the movie after pouring the popcorn into a large bowl, so they could share, but he didn't want any. After about fifteen minutes, she got tired of the popcorn, because she almost choked on it about three times from screaming too much. Dwayne was sure he would be deaf by Act Two.

Hannah leaned against him as the movie proceeded and started biting her nails. He wrapped his arm around her so she felt safe and pulled her hand away from her mouth and she laid it on his leg. She started gripping his jeans as the scene got intense. He pulled her hand off him, because her nails were starting to dig into his leg fat, and held her hand instead. She gripped his hand, her skin was smooth, and he was beginning to enjoy it before Hannah suddenly screamed extremely loud and practically crushed his hand with her grip. She jumped into his lap, her knee getting very close to a bad spot to get kneed, kicking over the bowl sending popcorn everywhere in the process. She screamed into his shirt.

He glanced at the TV and only saw someone running and screaming. Apparently they had just found a dead body, someone died, or the psycho killer was chasing them. Either way, Hannah wouldn't leave his lap the rest of the night, convinced that the psycho would get her if she wasn't digging her nails into someone's back and screaming into someone's ear at close range.

About a half hour later Dwayne had finished cleaning up the popcorn explosion and Hannah had gone home. He took the bowl into the kitchen where Sheryl was busy cleaning out the refrigerator.

"I like Hannah, she's a sweet girl. She's good for you, you know." Sheryl said as she opened a pickle jar and smelled it. "Don't throw that out. Save it." She told him as he opened the trash can.

_Mom, it's been all over the floor._

"Oh, very well, toss it out. So, are you and Hannah going out yet?"

_Mom, how many times have I told you, she has a boyfriend._

"Well, it didn't look like she had a boyfriend the way you two were acting all night. And if she did, it looked like it was you." Sheryl's words struck Dwayne roughly. He had never thought about something like that. "But, I guess I'm just old fashioned. It's getting late. You should get to bed."

Dwayne did as he was told, but didn't fall asleep for many hours. His thoughts were racing threw his mind. Hannah, she was his best friend, and he couldn't have her, and Ricky did. It was as simple as that. He thought about what Sheryl said. Maybe they did fit together perfectly. But what if they never got the chance to. She was with Ricky, and it didn't seem like they would break up anytime soon. He eventually closed his eyes and drifted into an uneasy sleep.

-------

Three weeks past with no change. Dwayne and Hannah grew further apart as the weather grew colder and bleak. The dreary weather seemed to match Dwayne's mood, because he was slipping into a shallow depression, and it was killing Hannah to have to watch him going under.

Seth always told her she could fix everything. But every day she thought he hated her more and more, and there was no longer anything she could do.

She really didn't want to be with Ricky, but she didn't see any ups in breaking up with him. She didn't want to be alone.

This brought them to an ordinary Wednesday. Classes were shorter because there was to be a pep rally at the end of school to encourage the baseball team to do well in the opening game of the season, which would take place later that night.

Dwayne had practically ignored her all day, and Ricky didn't like hearing about her friends, so that left Seth to be the only one she could talk to about things. He wasn't much use, because his girlfriend had just broken up with him and he was busy trying to drown himself in grape soda.

It was in Art when the real trouble started. Seth was chugging Grape Soda from a 2 liter and Dwayne was busy scribbling something into his notebook when Ricky decided to drop in for a visit.

"Hey, can I have some?" Ricky asked Seth as he sat down at there table without being asked.

"Go find your own. I'm self-medicating." He said chugging the rest of it down in three huge gulps. When the bottle was empty he crushed it in his hands and tossed it in the trash.

"You haven't said hi to me." Ricky said to Hannah. Dwayne looked up from his doodle of a skull.

"Hi," Hannah said with no emotion in her voice.

"What's been up with you lately? You've been so moody."

"Well, I'm sorry I have emotions."

Ricky was about to say something but Seth interrupted him. "Who asked you to sit down?"

"I did."

"Well, I'm older, get out."

"Make me!"

"You want to fight? Well, I'll have you know I've had my ass kicked bigger fuckers than you, and I'm hyped up on about 5 gallons of grape flavored sugar right now so, I don't think I'll even feel it when you hit me. Is it true what they say? You hit like a girl?"

"Want to find out?"

"Bring it on Queer Bait." Ricky stood up suddenly knocking his stool over and Seth quickly followed suite, staring him in the eyes, clenching his fists. Hannah looked down at her pitcher, ignoring them and Dwayne didn't look up either. It was as if all this were normal.

Although others didn't seem to think so. They ohhhhed and some even started whispering 'fight!' Mrs. Ives looked over and noticed Ricky for the first time.

"Ricky, your not in my class. How many times a week do I have to tell you not to ditch in here. Your not a clerical, yes I checked, and you have nothing to work on. So get!" She said before turning back to her painting. She was never very observant. Someone could set the classroom on fire, and she would never notice until the alarms started going off.

"Haha." Seth chuckled as Ricky started walking out. Seth turned to watch him go. Ricky doubled back and stood about a foot away from Seth. "You don't have the guts."

Hannah looked up just as Ricky swung, and it took her a second to realize why his fist hit nothing. Seth had ducked at the very last moment, and was now quickly crawling under the table.

Within mere seconds he was pushing her and Dwayne's chairs aside as he hurried out. Surprising Ricky like that only gave him and few seconds head start. He was quickly by Mrs. Ives side, and put his hand on her shoulder and made a comment about the painting that she was working on. He knew Ricky would never come after him while he was so close to a teacher.

Ricky stormed out of the room fuming, Dwayne giggled a little and looked up at her.

_That was great._

Hannah smiled too. Seth walked back over to them and put a hand on both of there shoulders as if to steady himself.

"You know I love you guys. You're the best." Seth started to banter on.

"Yeah, your great too Seth. Thanks for sticking up for me. But you know, you didn't have too. You're a great friend." Hannah said.

"No, you don't understand, I LOVE you guys!! I need to lie down." Seth said as his grip on there shoulders slipped and he fell on the floor.

"Seth! What's wrong?"

_He's drunk._

"What do you mean he's drunk? All he's had to drink all day was grape soda… oh." Hannah muttered finally catching on that Seth had spiked it with alcohol. She was knelling on the ground next to Seth, smacking him in the face to try and get him conscious.

"Ugh, just five more minutes." Seth said slapping her hands away.

"Well, he's not dead. We should take him to the nurse."

_Can't we just leave him there?_

"Go tell Mrs. Ives that were taking him." Dwayne went and told her and Mrs. Ives watched them nervously as they hoisted him up and helped him walk down the halls. "Boy, he's heavy."

"Come on coach, let me play," Seth said groggily, "It's just a flesh wound. I can finish."

"He's a very bad drunk isn't he?" Hannah asked as he started to slip from her grip. Dwayne nodded.

"Where are you taking me?"

"You need to go to bed. Sleep it off."

"Why don't you go to bed, I'm just fine." Seth said pushing them off and then stumbling to his knees. "Maybe not." They helped him up again, and after much trouble, got him into the nurses office.

When they got to the nurses office they tried explaining the fact that Seth was drunk away as a bad stomach virus, which she surprisingly bought.

"Stomach Flu? Well, there's not too much we can do for him, except let him sleep it off. Maybe some asprin."

"Am I dying?" Seth suddenly said loudly from the chair they had deposited him in. They ignored him.

"Is there anyone we can call to come get him?"

"I don't know? Seth," Hannah asked turning around to see Seth muttering to himself looking worried. "Is there anyone we can call to come get you?" After asking the question about five times they finally got the answer no in the from of a head shake as he got out of his seat.

"All we can do for him is let him sleep and hope he doesn't puck on the floors. Mr. Maxium, please sit down!" She yelled at Seth who was opening and closing the blinds on the window. He went quietly back to his seat. "I'll write you two passes back to class then. Are you sure that's just the stomach flu?" She asked as Seth started bleating out Amazing Grace very off key. Dwayne was finding it hard to control his laughter.

About an hour later she was walking into the gym, not for gym class, but for the pep rally. She was looking around trying to spot someone. Not Ricky, but Dwayne. She finally spotted him sitting all alone in the middle bleachers half way up.

They were on the second floor, so they had to look down on all the action. People were still filing in, so nothing was really going on. She tromped up to where Dwayne was, her feet stomping on every step, even though she tried to be quiet. When she got to Dwayne's row he was now lying down across the row looking up at the ceiling.

"Hey Dwayne." He showed no signs of noticing her presence. "I know your mad at me Dwayne, but won't you at least talk to me. We used to be such good friends. Where did that go?"

He looked over at her, his eyes were sad and screamed for a thousand tears he would never cry. He sat up and took out his pad and scribbled something.

_I'm not mad at you._

"Well, you sure act like it. I feel like I'm losing you, and that's something I don't think I can stand. I always want you as my friend. Don't take that away from me." She started welling at the eyes even though she swore she wouldn't, silent tears started falling.

_Don't cry,_

She couldn't stop, so he got up and sat next to her, taking her in his arms. She felt like he was reluctant to thought, like it pained him to stoke her hair as she cried into his shirt. No matter what he said, it felt as though he was already gone. She started crying even harder at the thought of all her bad choices, and how there was no going back on what she had done.

After about a minute she finally got the will to stop, and she pulled away as Dwayne still stroked her arm sympathetically.

_That's better. Know you'll never lose me unless you want me to go._

"I feel so silly." She said wiping up her tears.

_You shouldn't be afraid to feel the way you do. Your allowed to cry._

"Really, I disagree. So, are you going to wait on me after school today?" Today was the last day of rehearsals for the play that was to open tomorrow. She was out of her mind with nerves.

_Why, is Ricky not staying?_

"No, he has things to do." She said looking away, not wanting Dwayne to see the hurt in her eyes.

_I'll stay. _

"Thanks." She muttered as the festivities began bellow. They sat there silently for a few minutes, those silences always made it painfully clear to her that things had changed.

Seth came back a few minutes later looking rosier than earlier. He had stayed in the nurses office the rest of the day.

"Feeling better are we?" She asked with a smile as he plopped down in the row behind them.

"A bit, I slept for awhile, and then she kicked me out when I broke into her cracker cabinet. Decided I was well enough to join you guys. Hey, I feel like getting a detention. How about you Dwayne, want to join me?"

_Your still a bit shit faced aren't you?_

"You know it, so what do you say?"

_That's okay, you can go._

"Aw, Dwayne, your never any fun." At that moment Ricky found her, and was stalking over to where they were.

"There you are, I've been looking for you for a good half hour. Let's go." Ricky said offering his hand.

Hannah didn't really want to leave, but she thought it was best not to start a conflict right now. Especially when Seth was so willing to get expelled, and she would be dammed if it was over her.

So she took his hand and he led her over to where his friends were watching the baseball activities. Almost as soon as they got there, all they wanted to do was concentrate on cheering there friends on. And what little conversation that went on consisted of the game, and other things that required little brain power.

She often found herself looking over at Dwayne and Seth whom looked like they were having fun, planning something maniacal, she was sure. She wished she was a part of it.

She tried to concentrate on the guys in baseball uniforms practicing there catching. They were not that impressive, since they missed at least ½ of the time. Then she heard someone scream,

"You Suck!!! Go Back to Canada!!" Seth screamed down at the players. See it's funny because none of them were from Canada. One of the teachers yelled up at them to be quiet and watch. Seth said something to Dwayne as he pointed to something. Dwayne was laughing so hard he was starting to fall out of his seat.

"Pineapples!! Bears! Chainsaws!!" Seth screamed over the stands. Many people heard him, and started laughing. His noise caused one of the players to miss the ball by a long shot.

"He dropped the ball! I can't believe this! Best game ever!" Seth said laughing hysterically. One of the vice principals spotted him and started marching up the bleachers to take him out.

"I will not be silenced!" He bellowed and they started telling him off and pulling him out of the gym. "You may dispose of me, but my message will live on in the masses. And that message is, hard work pays off later, laziness pays off now! Thank you! Good Night!" He screamed as they pulled him out of sight.

Some people clapped, and she joined in. Ricky looked at her with such horrified look, it was like she had just killed the prime minister. "What are you doing cheering on that idiot?"

"He's my friend, and he's quiet funny. You should be nicer to my friends."

"Your friends are all poor drug addicts!" And that's how that fight began. They argued for another few minutes before she stormed out of the gym and into the hallways bellow which were empty. None of the teachers stopped her, because they knew she was upset.

She wasn't crying. She couldn't seem to muster tears over this although she seemed to be able to manage many of them earlier. She heard footsteps on the stairs behind her, so she turned and saw Dwayne coming after her.

_You alright?_

"I'm fine, never better."

_Your such a horrible liar._

She giggled.

_You need to leave him. He's never going to change, you can't make him._

"I know. But, I won't I can't."

_Why not?_

"Is this what it's all about? Your pissed at me because I won't leave him! Well, you need to get over yourself, crawl out of that hole you dropped yourself into and quit thinking that the world revolves around you. Not everything you think is right you know!" She screamed at him without thinking. She wasn't angry at him. All he was doing was being the actual voice of all the little ones that were screaming inside of her. And she didn't want to listen.

Dwayne quickly scribbled something that took about a minute to write before he stuffed the paper in her hand and went back upstairs. The paper said,

_Well then I hope you enjoy being miserable with your choices, and don't expect us to throw you a pity party every time he does something stupid. As of now, I don't care anymore!_

Hannah dissolved into that moment, and found herself on the floor weeping. How could she have treated Dwayne that way, when all he did was care for her? After awhile she stopped crying and just sat there before getting up and going to the office to talk to Seth.

He was exactly where she thought he would be, waiting in the 10th grade office. He had already received his punishment and was now just waiting for school to be over.

"Hello Sethefer." She said slumping into a chair next to him.

"You get in trouble too?" He asked.

"No, I yelled at Dwayne though. I'm pretty sure he hates me now." She said handing the note to Seth and he read it.

"That sounds like Dwayne, when he's hurt. All he's trying to do is look after you. You mean a lot to him, and you've kind of just left him. We'll just need to put in some overtime and fix this."

"I don't think it can ever be fixed." She said lying her head on his shoulder.

"Of course it can. We tore down the Berlin Wall didn't we? Anything is possible." He said patting her head. "Just tell him your sorry."

She nodded. "So what did they do to you?" Seth laughed as he began his story.

------

When Drama practice was over she went and looked for Dwayne thinking it was a long shot that he was still around but she had to try. To her surprise he was still there, in the weight room alone.

She stood in the door way for a moment thinking over all the apologies she owed him, and how to word them. He looked over and saw her, and they looked at each other for a long moment before he approached her.

It seemed like she couldn't find the words anymore, and all she could get out was, "I'm sorry." He took her in his arms and held her close.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it." She breathed into his chest. When they finally broke apart he just nodded and he picked up his bag and they walked outside, taking the long way around the track.

Why wasn't he apologizing too? She tried biting her tongue, but it came out anyway. "Don't you have something to say to me too?" She asked walking slower so all she saw was his back. He shook his head no. This stung worse than words. "Aren't you going to say your sorry?" He shook his head more dramatically. Her blood boiled. She deserved an apology just as much as he did, and she just couldn't stop herself.

"You know, your not better than Ricky. I know we yelled at each other, but I know that at least he'll have the decency to apologize to me. At least he loves me! At least he has a heart!"

Dwayne stopped dead in his tracks and just stood there. She knew she had gone too far as soon as the words formed themselves. His bag slid off his arm and hit the ground.

He slowly turned and she saw the deep hurt and anger impressed upon his face. He looked furious, and he slowly approached her. The deepest part of her mind told her to run, to get away. But she wasn't afraid, and she didn't move. He stopped as he got really close to her and looked deep into her eyes, and then he did the unthinkable.

He kissed her. A kiss that flowed threw her body and made her feel alive. He lifted her off her feet as the kiss became deeper. After the initial shock wore off, she started to kiss him back, running her fingers over the back of his neck and up threw his hair.

The kiss was made of nothing but love, and want. She knew now why Ricky annoyed him so much, because Ricky had all he ever wanted, all he ever lusted after. Dwayne truly did love her after all. Silent tears started running down her cheeks as the kiss drew to a close and Dwayne put her back down and backed away from her.

She looked into his eyes that were filled with sorrow and regret and the tears running down his pale cheeks. The moment was fleeting, and all she wanted to do was hold on.

She ran at him and kissed him again. The second lasted only a second before Dwayne pulled away. She went at him again, trying to hug him, to hold on, crying harder than ever. He pushed her away and held her out at arms length as he cried new tears too. Thunder rolled overhead in the dark sky.

Then he started backing away from her. "Don't leave me, please." She cried as he backed away and picked up his bag. Then he left, walked away as she fell to her knees and cried as the rain started to fall over her shattered life.

------

Dwayne slammed the front door as he entered the house. Tears still stung his eyes. He was so angry, at Hannah, at himself. How could she choose Ricky over him?

He heard Sheryl call to him, saying something about where the leftovers from dinner were, and then asking him to do something. This was so not the time.

As he entered his bedroom he slammed the door as hard as he could and slid the lock into place. He threw himself on his bed and buried his head into the pillow and cried. He let out all of his built up emotion that he had kept in for the last month. He cried all the tears he had, and when they were gone he sobbed trying to sort out his thoughts.

It wasn't worth it anymore. All continuing to love Hannah would do would be to hurt himself further. His heart was already shattered. There was nothing left. But he couldn't bring himself to hate her. No matter how hard he tried. She didn't deserve any of this, she hadn't done anything wrong. She was free to make her choices. All his conclusions left him with only one option. He would have to remain her friend. She was his only friend, and he still needed her. He was just going to have to work harder at burying his emotions.

Once Dwayne had achieved a Simi calm state, he sat up on his bed, swinging his feet over the edge. He played back his last defiance agents Ricky in his mind, over and over. The feel of her lips under his when they kissed. How she didn't pull away, how she kissed him back.

His heart fluttered as the butterflies returned to his stomach. He was already breaking the new resolution he had made. Damn it. Feelings couldn't be wished away, no matter how hard you try. No matter how many vows you take. Your true feelings will always bubble to the surface.

So he thought about what he did to her. He had pushed her away when all she wanted was him. He had rejected her when all he wanted to do was hold her forever and kiss away her tears.

He started crying again as he thought about it. He had left her. He had made his point. He needed her to know how he felt. He knew no other way, at least at the time. Now all he wanted to do was take it back. Leave things the way they were. Because now the game had changed.


	18. Cheating on you

**Author's Note: I hope you all like this chapter as always, and continue to send me reviews. You know an author always likes to know there work is being enjoyed, or not, whatever. Enjoy!**

The next day Hannah was very sad. Dwayne wouldn't even look at her now. The bus ride was particularly cruel. He just clenched his teeth as she tried to persuade him to talk to her about what had happened. But he obviously didn't want to talk about it, so she didn't press the subject any more.

Lunch and Art were even worse because Seth didn't come to school that day. She knew he was probably recovering from his binge drinking the day before. She only prayed that he wasn't still trying to drown his miseries in alcohol.

"Won't you talk to me even a little?" Hannah pleaded with him.

He just sat as unresponsive as ever, just staring at the vandalized art table.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I know I pushed you to this. I'm sorry. You don't have to say anything. I know I f-ed this all up." At this his eyes seemed to blink for the first time all day and he looked over at her.

"Sorry," was all she could think to say. He just slowly nodded and turned back to his thoughts.

She knew it was a stupid thing to ask, but she just couldn't help herself. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. "Are you coming to the play tonight?"

He blinked again, the sign that showed he had comprehended what she had said. He slowly shrugged his shoulders. That may as well have been a no.

Gym and Health sucked too. Dwayne only sometimes gave her a sideways glance. She was relieved when Health was finally over because she was kind of getting burned from all the fumes Dwayne was letting off. It was also the passing period she got to see Ricky.

"Hey babe," Ricky said as she approached. She kissed him on the cheek. "Having a good day?" That little comment might as well have been dropping a nuclear bomb on her. It made her wonder now if her face had suddenly stopped showing emotion, or weather Ricky had ever cared to look.

"No!" she couldn't help to scream at him. Just her little way of venting. "Dwayne is really made at me."

"So what? It's about time you stopped hanging out with that looser."

She pushed him in anger. "Don't talk about him that way. He's my best friend!" She yelled not being able to help standing up for him.

"Apparently not if he's mad at you." Ricky said snidely. "So, are you coming to the party tonight? Everyone's going to be there." Everyone that didn't matter to her, but that wasn't the immediate problem.

"What do you mean? Your going to a party tonight?" She said trying to sound as outraged as she felt.

"Yeah, Tommy's throwing this outrageous party bec…"

"I don't care why. My play is opening tonight. I thought you said you'd come."

"Uh…" He said with a glazed look in his green eyes.

"My Shakespeare play. I've been telling you about it for over a few weeks now. Every day!"

"Oh that artsy thing your in. Sure I'll be there. I meant we could go to the party afterwards. Come on, I'll walk you to class." She knew he was only changing the subject to keep himself out of trouble. But she took his hand none the less as he led her to the drama room.

After school Hannah didn't see Dwayne or anyone else for that matter as she ran off to get ready for the play which would start at six. They hustled and bustled backstage getting into costumes and running lines (By demands of Chris). After the second run threw he was satisfied and would finally let someone do his hair.

"Come let me do your hair Hannah." Amanda said calling her to a chair. It had taken her an hour to get into her costume, and get her makeup done. She wore blue eyeliner that matched her blue dress, jumper, fairy outfit. She also had glitter pan caked all over every inch of skin that was showing.

She sat in a chair before a mirror and Amanda brandished a comb and curler. "Tell me, up or down?"

"Up," Amanda reached for her hair and then she changed her mind, "no, down." Amanda reached for her hair a second time. "No, actually up."

"I don't care if you do change your mind. It's going up." Amanda said as she started curling her hair while Chris entertained them by belting out show tunes while Kathleen gelled his hair and spiked it. Then she proceeded to spay golden temporary hair dye into it making it shine.

When Hannah's hair was decently curly, Amanda put it up into a loose bun where some of the hairs fell loose. Then she sprayed her hair down to make it golden too.

"You know I'm never going to be able to get all this glitter off." Hannah complained looking into the mirror.

"I know. Jamie is seriously getting coal in her stocking for this." Jamie was the one in charge of costume and set design. She was the one who had insisted that all the fairies be drenched in glitter, gold, and sequins. Hannah was sure they looked like a bunch of show girls from Vegas, with all the frills and feathers on them all.

Jamie was currently overseeing the lighting and final notes over rotation of the sets. She was also coming backstage every 10 minutes or so telling how long till curtain raise, even if it was over an hour away. Although currently it was more like a half hour and they were already taking tickets out front.

Hannah's nerves were racing and running into each other at high speeds. She would be a complete nervous wreck if it weren't for Chris's constant jokes, and being around all her friends, and Zack's gymnastics where he would randomly stand on his hands or do a wild flip. Once almost knocking over a bunch of folding chairs. He also constantly made fun of Jamie whenever she would pop out.

They were all now in costume and makeup, and there nerves were getting the better of them. More than once Ali announced to everyone that she felt like she was going to hurl.

"God I don't want to go on. I'm going to forget all my lines." Chris was saying nervously.

"Stop that. Your making me jittery you know." Zack said twisting his costume in his fists.

"Don't do that." Valeri yelled at him.

"Shut up ginger." He retorted.

"Back off freaker," she yelled.

"Stop fighting." Chris said butting in.

"I know what to do." Amanda sung from across the room. She flicked on the CD player she had set on a stool.

K.T. Tunstall blared from the little speakers and Amanda began to sing along with the music. Soon they were all singing whole heartedly with the music. Zack was even dancing around the room.

"You guys!" Jamie said stalking into the room angrily. "Turn that off!" she screamed stomping over to the CD player and turning it off. "We can hear that our front. Hooligans! Curtain raise in under ten minutes. More like seven. First ones up, get ready." She said marching out of the room again.

"What a bitch," Zack moaned.

"Leave her alone, Zackary." Hannah said playfully to him.

"Don't call me that." He said going to check on the lighting, which was his responsibility.

"I'm going to peek out front, just to see how many people are here." Chris said sneaking onto set. Hannah, along with Amanda, Katie, Thomas, Valeri, and Kathleen. They all peeked threw the curtains at different intervals seeing the auditorium already filling up.

"Look at all the people here!" Thomas said surprised seeing as half the seats were already filled, and more people were filling in every second. "Here comes the egg McMuffin."

"Stop that. Your making me nervous." Valeri said from her place at the curtain which was right beneath him. "I think I see my dad."

At the next opening down Hannah was standing with Amanda and Chris. "So nervous, but we'll do fine. How's my hair. Tell me it's perfect." Chris said loudly in Amanda's ear.

"Don't touch it, that took Kat an hour to get it up to your standards!" Amanda said slapping at his hand as he tried to touch it.

But Hannah wasn't really concerned with what they were saying. She was scoping the audience for Ricky. Her parents weren't coming until tomorrow nights show. They were currently at a marriage counselor. She didn't see Ricky anywhere, and was quite sure he wouldn't show up at all, but she did find something much better.

Dwayne was sitting in the middle section in the middle of the forth row back. He was all by himself and looked quite out of place among a sea of theater going people. Hannah couldn't stop smiling. He showed up! He showed up for her. They were still friends after all.

After a few more minutes of spying on there audience, they all decided to go backstage again, where they found Alex and Steven, the twins, entertaining Kevin, Josh and Elsa with there elaborate sword fight they were putting on with some of the props. They all cheered them on as they lightened the mood considerably with only about five minutes left on the clock.

"Stop that! Stop that!" Jamie said as she came backstage. "Put those down. Listen up everyone, gather round." Everyone approached and made a circle around here. "Now I trust you all know what to do. Edwin, try and remember your cue. Alex and Steven, do not go rolling onto the stage as your grand entrance. This is Shakespeare, not a World War Two reenactment. Zack, this is not a musical, so try not to sing your lines. That's about all, and remember its not about having fun, its about doing a good job. So don't embarrass me. I'm going out front to introduce you, in oh, three minutes." Jamie disappeared with a flourish around to the front.

"What an a…" Zack started to say but Kevin interrupted him.

"Don't, the walls have ears." Kevin said motioning to there teacher supervision, Mrs. Crabgrass, the swimming instructor, who had been asleep in a folding chair the whole time, and still was. But Kevin was always being paranoid that she was awake.

"That's a laugh." Zack said.

"A laugh and a half." Elsa added.

"Well, let's have fun out there and completely ignore Jamie." Chris said picking a prop off the table he was supposed to enter with. "Well, lets take out places, its about time to go on."

They all wished each other good luck, and Hannah had to wait backstage as the play began. She nervously awaited her turn. When it was her time to go on, she dashed onstage trying to outrun her fears. She hurriedly said her first lines, like she was supposed to. The lights that shone on the stage were bright and hot. She was boiling under all the glitter and paste.

Every moment she got she glanced out at the audience, trying to spot Dwayne again. But she couldn't. The stage lights were too bright and the house lights completely out. They were all gloomy shadow people, indistinguishable from one another. She could only barley see the people brave enough to sit in the front row.

The show went off without a hitch. Only a few people stumbled over there lines and Steven got his hand banged up by one of the swords during the sword fight. When it was all over they all went out onstage and accepted the applause the audience gave them. They were all smiling wildly, happy with themselves. The next show would be a lot better, for sure.

The house lights went on and Hannah saw Dwayne clapping for them along with everyone else. He looked happy, for a smile was drawn across his lips. The first real smile she had seen on him in a long time.

The applause died away and people started getting up to leave. As the people dispersed, so did the actors, if that's what they were. Some went back stage to get out of there costumes, others jumped off the stage to go and talk to there family's before they got ready to leave.

Hannah was among them. She knelt as she slid off the wooden stage and onto the carpeted floor. She quickly ran to Dwayne who wasn't even out of his row yet, and tackled him with a hug.

"I can't believe you came!" She said threw his cotton t-shirt. She pulled away and looked up at him, "Thank you, for everything. Thanks for showing up." He nodded and took his notepad out of his back pocket.

_You were great. Really brilliant, actress._

"Thank you, very much. I'm sorry, but I have to ask, have you seen Ricky anywhere?" she said worried that mentioning him would set Dwayne off again.

_I haven't seen him._

He wrote the words calmly but Hannah could tell it bothered him. "That's okay, he's a jackass anyway."

_You don't mean that._

"I don't know…" She started to explain herself when someone called her name.

"Hannah!" Amanda called from backstage. "Are you coming to get ready or not! I'm not going to wait forever to take down your hair!" Amanda's head disappeared from its place between the red curtains.

"I had better go. Will you wait for me out front? I hope I won't take too long."

Dwayne nodded, then held out one finger telling her to hang on a second. He reached down by his seat and retrieved a flower he had left there. He handed her a white Daisy.

"It's beautiful. Thank you Dwayne." She said hugging him and kissing him on the cheek.

"Hannah! I mean now!! Stop smooching your boyfriend and come here!" Amanda yelled from backstage yet again.

"See you out front." She said before she hurried backstage blushing. She went to her cubby hole first and took out her normal clothes and looked down at her flower and then smelled it.

"I wish my boyfriend showed up tonight, your so lucky Hannah." Amanda said stopping next to her. "He gave you a flower, how sweet," she continued as she took a towel out of her cubby.

"He's not my boyfriend."

"He's not… really. That's odd. Then who is your boyfriend?"

"I don't have one." She said saying the words before she thought them threw.

"Come on then, let me take down your hair." Amanda said leading her towards the vanities. Hannah sat there drifting off into space as Amanda took down her hair from all its complicated hairpins and rubber bands. She also got lost in the music that someone had decided to turn on. Probably Chris. The Bee Gees soft feel good lyrics drifted over making her feel warm. Maybe that's why she felt so light when she left after getting back into her yellow sundress that she had worn that day. Dwayne was waiting for her out front by the door.

"I'm ready." She said and they left out the front door. She slung her canvas bag over her arm as they walked down the sidewalk towards home. The cool wind stung her sweaty skin and felt marvelous. She noticed Dwayne kept looking at her. "What?" She finally asked.

_Your hair matches your dress._

He wrote this as he laughed. "Shut up!" she said pushing him, and pushing him, until she finally pushed him off the sidewalk. He laughed the whole time. "You can walk in the street!" She said in her pretend angry voice. He didn't listen and got back up and walked next to her. She yelled in anger threw her teeth. She crossed her arms and looked angry at him, but she couldn't stay angry for long. So they just walked along in silence.

With no thoughts in her head, the Bee Gees and there addictive lyrics attacked. At first she was fine and just going over them in her head but soon she was humming and then she couldn't help but sing to the night.

"Listen to the ground, there is movement all around. There is something goin' down and I can feel it. On the waves of the air, there is dancin' out there. If it's somethin' we can share, we can steal it." Dwayne looked at her curiously as she sang on and even started dancing and spinning in circles too. "And that sweet city woman, she moves through the light, controlling my mind and my soul. When you reach out for me  
yeah, and the feelin' is bright, then I get night fever, night fever. We know how to do it. Gimme that night fever, night fever. We know how to show it!"

Dwayne caught her as she took a wild spin and almost tripped into the gutter.

_Okay American Idol. Are you done now?_

"Fine," a said in a bored voice. Now that she had finished her dance routine she was beginning to get a little cold.

_I give you a 10._

"Thanks." She said rubbing her arms and shivering a little. "I'm so cold."

_Well, maybe you should have worn something with sleeves. You know that new invention there kicking around._

"Really, never heard of it." She said jokingly. At that moment the wind rushed by making Hannah even colder. She grabbed Dwayne's closest arm with both hands and leaned in close to him for warmth.

_Jesus, your hands are cold._

"I know it." She said squeezing his bicep and she was sure a shiver when down his spine. "It's a beautiful night." She commented as she slowly ran her right hand down Dwayne's arm and slipped her hand in his, letting there fingers intertwine.

Dwayne looked at her curiously. They had never held hands before, this was a big step in the right direction.

_What about Ricky?_

"What about him? Were over. We've been over for a long time, but I'm so thick it's taken this long to realize it." She said as they continued to walk, but more slowly this time. "I'm going to call him tonight and tell him were threw. You were right, you know. I wasn't meant to be with him."

_You sure about this?_

Dwayne was no longer referring to Ricky, and Hannah knew this. "Sure I'm sure. Been sure for a long time." They had stopped walking now and they were both looking each other in the eye. "I never loved Ricky, and he couldn't understand why."

_He was cheating on you._

"I know. But that's behind me now, isn't it?" She said fluidly and then stood on her tip toes and kissed Dwayne quickly on the lips. She felt a spark run threw her even though the kiss lasted merely seconds. "Come on, walk me home." She said as Dwayne stood there a little stunned.

They talked no more as they walked to her house, but they kept glancing at each other and smiling, as if they knew an amusing secret.

He walked her to the door and they were still holding hands. All the lights in the house were out, her parents must still be out.

"Good night." She said although she didn't want him to leave. He nodded silently but they didn't move an inch. He reached out and took her other hand. They looked into each others eyes for a few more brief seconds before he bent down and kissed her. The kiss was a lot like the first, in the ways that it sent every molecule in her body into doing the samba. It was also full of the love and deep meaning that the first had, but all the same it was very different.

This time the kiss wasn't full of pain and sorrow, but the opening of a door as new love flowed threw. Cheating on Ricky never felt so good.

When the kiss finally broke they looked into each others eyes again. Hannah saw lots of things in those big brown eyes. Mostly deep rivers of all different kinds of feelings. But one was more prominent above the rest. As she gazed into those hazel orbs, she knew her eyes told him the exact same story. Something they had been drowning in for months. So she said what they both were thinking.

"I love you."


	19. Seth 2 point 0

**Author's Note: Hope you enjoy this chaper and please review. There is a little cursing in this chapter, so you have been warned, Enjoy!**

"What the jolly fuck is up with you two?" Seth said curiously across the lunch table.

It was Friday and Seth was back in school. He said he wasn't in school yesterday because he needed to completely revamp his life. And he sure did. He cut his long hair so it was merely a few inches long. Hannah would describe it as spiky, although it was more likely that it was just bed head. Seth seemed a lot happier now that he swore off booze and what not.

After Dwayne left on Thursday Hannah immediately called Ricky and told him it was over. He didn't take it well. He wanted to know reasons. She gave him some, like he was rude to her friends, mean, and he just wasn't right for her. Even though she didn't mention Dwayne at all, he suspected it. When he started questioning her about it, she hung up on him. Because what happened between Hannah and Dwayne was there little secret, the whole school seemed to know. Except for Seth, of course.

"I broke up with Ricky." Hannah said unenthusiastically. The reason Seth was questioning them in the first place was because she and Dwayne had been exchanging looks all day. They weren't officially going out yet, and that made Hannah giddy with suspense.

"Good for you sweets. Tell me, did he cry?" Seth asked fascinated.

"No, not that I heard." Hannah said taking a bite of chicken. Chicken day was her favorite, the schools favorite. Everyone loved chicken day.

"Well shit. But look on the bright side, you and Dwayne can go out now." Seth said winking at them.

"Possibly," Hannah said looking over at Dwayne. They both smiled that stupid smile, and then quickly looked back at there food like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"What was that?" Seth asked.

"What was what?"

"That look. What the fuck was that?" Seth asked pointing at them.

"You just reinvented yourself. Why does fowl language have to be the thing you carry over?"

"I love my fucking language. Keep out of it, and tell me what that look was about."

"Nothing" Hannah stressed feeling the pink burn into her cheeks.

Seth sighed and picked up his coke can. He looked at it and then smiled as he violently shook the closed can. "Tell me," Seth said holding the can over towards me with his finger on the tab. Why did she have to wear white today? "Or I swear I'll do it."

"Nothing, nothing at all. Did I tell you Dwayne came to my play, and Ricky didn't. That really pissed me off. Probably one of the main reasons I broke up with him. He didn't really care about me." Hannah said calmly eating one of the horribly burnt potato wedges on her plate.

"Well, I could have told you that." Seth said sitting his coke back down on the table. Seth picked up his ham sandwich off his Styrofoam plate and took a large bite.

Hannah glanced over at Dwayne again and they both smiled. She looked away quickly and cracked open her little chocolate milk. She took at quick swig and immediately spat it out all over the table.

"Jesus!" Seth said whipping milk off his shirt.

"I'm sorry, but this milk is nasty. It tastes like ass, here you try it." Hannah said pushing the milk towards Seth.

"I'm trying to stay off the ass juice for now, but you know, thank you." Hannah turned to Dwayne and held out the milk, trying to get him to try it, but he turned up his nose at it. "You better be thankful that I love you Hannah, because I don't think that this is going to come out." Seth said holding his shirt out.

"Its dark blue, you can't see a thing." She said taking another piece of chicken and tearing it in half before popping a piece in her mouth.

"It's navy thank you very much. Can I have a piece of your chicken?"

"Help yourself." She said pushing her tray towards him. He took a piece and ate it.

"That's pretty good, but I don't think that's chicken." He said taking another piece.

"What do you think it is?"

"I don't know. Lama meat."

_Knowing this school it probably is._

"Can I have your milk?" Seth asked.

"Sure." She said raising an eyebrow and handing it to him.

He untwisted the top and smelled it and then took the tiniest of sips. He screwed up his face as it touched his tongue. "Yuhhuch, that's sour. Want to see something cool?" Hannah shrugged as Seth went to open his pop can.

"Umm, Sethefer."

Seth opened the can and the fizzy explosion she had expected didn't occur. "What?" She shook her head. Seth quickly chugged half the can and them burped. "Okay, watch the volcano!" Seth said as he slowly tipped the milk over the can. As soon as the chocolaty milk hit the fizzy coke something happened that Hannah never expected. The coke started fizzing violently and started running over the can and all over the table.

Hannah pulled her napkin out of his plastic baggy and tried to stop the fizz from overtaking her side of the table.

"Pretty impressive?" Seth asked. Hannah nodded.

----

Art was about just as interesting as lunch. They had to run out of the lunchroom when Seth didn't have enough napkins to clean up his mess so he put his tray over the milk and ran for it.

Hannah was drawing a rose, but it was looking more like anything but a rose. Seth was listening to music, it was loud enough for Hannah to hear that he was listening to oldies pop and funk. Dwayne was writing away in his notebook and every time Hannah asked him what it was he shut it.

What was he up to?

----

Gym was a lot of fun, well after Mr. Mallown forced 5 laps on them. Seth, Dwayne and Hannah were walking around the track, avoiding flying volleyballs as they talked.

"Is it just me, or are they trying to hit us. Because if they are really that bad, it's no wonder they sucked last year." Seth said catching one that came his way and then kicking it in the opposite direction of the girls it belonged to.

"I think there trying to hit us." Hannah reassured him as the girls yelled swears at them.

Hannah and Dwayne exchanged looks again behind Seth's back as he flipped the girls off.

"Now I know I saw it that time." Seth said just as they looked away. "No lies, what is up with you two? Did I miss something?"

"No, I don't know what your talking about." Hannah said casually.

"You can't play me. I've talked my way out of fifteen detentions this year. Now what is up?" He caught another glimpse between Dwayne and Hannah. "Oh, I know what it is. You two are going out and you just don't want to tell me. I can keep a secret."

"I doubt that, and were not going out!"

"Sure." Seth said as they walked on an empty balcony. "Let's just stay here. I think I'm getting a welt from that one volleyball." Seth said looking at his arm.

Dwayne and Hannah sat down agents the wall while Seth hummed to himself and played air guitar. Dwayne looked over at Hannah and she saw him and sent a smile his way.

Suddenly Seth burst into song scaring Hannah a little. "Love to see you whip it. Sure can treat you right. Give me just a minute of your time tonight. We both are here to have some fun. Let it whip. I know you're into groovin' love your body language. Baby let me know. You've got me so anxious. We both are here to have some fun. Let it Whip  
Let it Whip. Whip it baby, Whip it right. Let it Whip. Whip it baby, Whip it all night." Seth started running his hands threw his hair and dancing aggressively.

"Seth. Keep it in your head please. And no visuals." Hannah asked.

"You suck. I'm a great singer."

"Then join choir."

"NO SITTING! I WANT TO SEE MOVMENT!" Mr. Mallown's voice echoed threw the balcony.

----

Hannah stumbled onto the bus after a hard day of school, ready for the weekend to start. Dwayne wasn't on the bus yet, so she got the window seat. Time slowly ticked by and the bus started getting full. Dwayne was the last one on the bus and he looked a little winded.

"Glad to see you got here early," Hannah giggled. Dwayne scrunched up his nose and poked her on the arm. The bus was already pulling out of the parking lot as Dwayne searched threw his bag for something.

He pulled out a neatly folded paper and handed it to Hannah. "What's this?" She asked as she started to open it but he stopped her. He pointed to some writing on the front that said _Do not open until,_ and it had the next days date written neatly.

"Why must I wait?" Dwayne shrugged. "I hate waiting."


	20. I Told You So

Hannah could barely sleep that night. Anticipation over what Dwayne had written in that note was eating her away, and she did not taste good with Barbecue sauce. What a horrible dream that was.

Anyways, it was now Saturday morning and she was free to read the note, but she wanted to savor the feeling so she waited until her mom and dad both went off to work before she dared read it. She waited until she heard the engine in her mothers car start before she flew from the kitchen table and almost tripped over the hall rug as she threw herself on her bed and thrust her hand between her bed and the wall and groped around for the note. She had hidden it last night, just incase, because her mother was a serious snoop.

She sat up on her bed once it was in her hand and slowly opened it, her nerves creeping up on her as anticipation grew. She read down the letter that was in his hieroglyphic handwriting. It said…

_Dearest Hannah,_

_It seems like only yesterday that we met, or maybe it was__…__ But the point I__'__m trying to make is that no matter the time, I have always loved you. I love you and always have. And the best moment of my life has to be the night when the stars twinkled in your eyes and you said that you loved me too._

_The truth is that you have saved me from myself and I don__'__t know how I could ever repay you for that. I know I shouldn__'__t be asking you for anything more since you__'__ve already given me so much, but there is one thing I would like to know. If you love me enough to give me a chance? If you do, I think that we would be a good match. Something that__'__s__ a double edge sword because if were wrong, its going to hurt and if were right I don__'__t know if I can stand Seth bellowing I Told You So over the course of 3 to 6 months. He even made an I Told You So dance that he__'__s just dying to revel, or so he told me. _

_Even though I__'__m afraid of what Seth might be provoked to do, let__'__s give it a whirl anyway. What I__'__m getting at is, Will You Go Steady With Me? For some reason I feel better now that the words are out, even if they are out in the form of a bad 50__'__s movie. Well, let me know what you want to do. You know where to find me, and just to let you know that you can take your time because you will always have a place in my heart._

_Love,_

_Dwayne_

She held Dwayne's note in her hand, she was trembling with excitement. She laid it carefully on the table before sprinting towards nearest the phone. She was so gettery that it took her a few tries before she got the right number dialed. Even though she had only called Dwayne once, she knew his number by heart.

She waited impatiently as the phone rang and rang. She hoped Dwayne wasn't home alone because she knew he wouldn't answer the phone. Just before she was about to hang up she heard Sheryl's out of breath voice breath mutter hello? She must have been busy.

"Hi, is Dwayne there?" she asked.

"Hello Hannah. You know he's still not talking right…" Sheryl asked curiously.

"Yes, I just need to tell him something."

"Just a second." Then she heard Sheryl yell for Dwayne. A few second passed and then she heard three taps on the other end of the line. That was Dwayne's way of saying that he was listening.

"Yes," was all she said.

There was a quiet moment on the other end of the line before she heard the static buzz that let her know he had hung up.

She put the phone back in its cradle and went into the living room and put in her most girly mix of music and hit play. She sat down on the couch as the stereo started blazing Cindy Lauper. She picked up one of her mothers Vogue's and started flipping threw it when she heard the doorbell ring.

She tossed the magazine onto the coffee table and went to the door. When she opened it she saw Dwayne standing there, breathing heavily, sweat glistening on his forehead, but he had the biggest smile on his face, bigger than she had ever seen him smile before.

"Took you long enough," Hannah teased. His smile grew wider as he laughed, even though she didn't see how it could. He was brimming from ear to ear with excitement. She was sure he was just a mirror image of her own wild smile.

"Don't just stand there all day, come in." He followed her inside obediently and stood just inside smiling widely and surveying the room. When he finally caught her eye he blushed deeply and looked at the ground.

_I like your toes, it's a pretty color._

Dwayne was referring to the sparkly light blue color of her toes. Hannah smiled lightly before she said, "Shut up and just kiss me already."

Dwayne didn't need to be told twice and leaned down and kissed her. She heard a thump behind her as Dwayne tossed his notepad on the coffee table so he could wrap his arms freely around her. It didn't take long before Dwayne wrapped his arms tightly around her and lifted her off the ground, making it easier on him, so he didn't have to lean over.

Hannah always liked Dwayne's height, but it would make it hard if she wanted to kiss him, because she had to stand on her toes to reach him. She wasn't much shorter than Dwayne but just enough to make a difference.

When the kiss finally broke Dwayne set her back on the ground and they gazed into each others eyes that were misted with lust. They somehow found there way to the couch where they sat for the next hour kissing passionately.

Hannah pulled away finally, out of breath to check the clock because her mother always came home for lunch. She wondered what her mother would say is she walked threw the door ready to make herself a ham and cheese sandwich and saw a strange boy with his tongue down her daughters throat.

Hannah was curled up on Dwayne's lap as she cranked her head around to glimpse the clock on the mantle behind her. Dwayne was breathing hard too as he nuzzled his face close to hers and kissed her cheek.

Her mother would come home in roughly hour and a half. She guessed they had been glued together by there lips longer than she thought.

"Are we going to do anything else today besides this?" She asked smiling at him. He looked so cute with his hair practically standing on end because her hands had been running threw it for quite a long time. He leaned forward and grabbed his pad off the table. It was quite a stretch considering that she was squashing him and that he was determined not to drop her on the floor or have her move even an inch.

_Why, I kind of like this game._

As soon as he wrote the words he pulled her close and started kissing her again. She hated to break such a sweet kiss, but she had to. She quickly filled him in on her mother's lunch routine.

_So, we still have an hour and a half._

He wrote this and when to kiss her again. She giggled as she turned her head this way and that trying to avoid him. But he eventually caught her lips by holding her head still with his hands. After another five minutes she finally got her head back in check and pushed him away again.

"Wouldn't you like to do something else for awhile?" He shook his head no. "Come on, I want to do something else." She said poking him in the chest. He pushed out his bottom lip and gave her the puppy dog eyes. "You know that's not going to make me change my mind." She said with great difficulty because it was working, and well. She tried to turn away and get up, but as soon as she was on her feet he pulled her back into his lap and tried to kiss her again. Again she struggled against him, so he started kissing her neck instead. She stopped struggling and wrapped her arms around him. He let his tongue trace her neck as he laid her down on the couch.

He stopped and looked into her eyes as if to say 'That's Better' and started kissing her lips again hungrily. She let him kiss her for another ten minutes before she pushed him back again and told him that it was time to look busy for her mother.

_Fine, _he wrote swiftly on his pad and helped her off the couch.

"So, is there anything you want to do?" Dwayne thought for a moment and then quickly scribbled a response.

_How about water balloon fight in the living room? Turn the living room into a water park._

"I'm pretty sure my mother would freak out more about me running her furniture with water than about catching me kissing you."

_Then let's kiss, that sounds like a great new thing to do._

"I don't think so. Do you have anything else on your mind except kissing today?"

_No, except I have this really strange craving for Chili dogs. I have no idea why._

"How about let's play a board game."

_Sure._

"Any preferences?" Hannah asked as she walked towards her bedroom.

_No, not really. Anything but Candy Land. Olive forces me into playing that with her like every night._

"Where do you think your going?" Hannah said turning around once she got to her door.

_To your bedroom to get a game?_

"I don't think so. Your not going in my room."

_What?_

"A girls bedroom is private."

_You've been in my bedroom before!_

"You're a guy, you don't care about privacy. Plus you might go looking threw my things and who know what kind of stuff you'd find that I don't want you to see."

_Hey, I deserve privacy just as much as you! And you've gone threw some of my stuff before. And what kind of stuff do you not want me to see?_

He wrote this and stuffed it into her hand as he tried to budge her out of the door frame. He had only gotten his hand wrapped around the doorknob when Hannah tugged at his arms and squeezed herself between him and the door.

_What kind of stuff don't you want me to see?_

"None of your business." She said pushing at his chest as hard as she could but might as well have been putting all her strength into trying to move a concrete wall.

_Tell me and I'll leave it alone._

"No!" She cried as tears started slipping from her eyes.

_Please don't cry. I'll leave it alone. You don't have to tell me. I'm going to the living room watch me._

Hannah barely read a word of what he wrote but as soon as he started backing away from her she wailed even harder and threw her arms around him. Dwayne held her lovingly and rubbed her back trying to calm her.

Hannah got a hold of herself within a few minutes and she pulled herself away from Dwayne and whipped the tears from her eyes.

_I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. I love you, and I would never hurt you. I'm_

Hannah stopped him from writing any more and said, "you didn't do anything wrong. It's not you… It's… my parents." Dwayne raised an eyebrow and looked down at her curiously. "Last night I heard my parents fighting. I was sitting just on the other side of this door listening to it all. I… I think there getting a divorce. My mom kept yelling about how she wantes my dad to leave. But the thing I hate the most is the morning after the fighting when they act all cheery around each other, like I couldn't hear the yelling the night before. I know it all just an act for me. I hate those strained smiles."

_I know how you feel. I have to deal with the same thing with Sheryl and Richard. It doesn't up end me too much because I hate Richard, but I feel bad for Olive. She's too young to understand, but I can see it bothers her._

"I'm sorry for dumping this on you. Just when were getting close too." Hannah said wiping her eyes again.

_Don't worry about it. I think it brings us closer anyway. Don't ever think your going to bother me by telling me how you feel._

"And that right there is why I love you, and why it didn't work out with Ricky. I can talk to you, trust you with things. Ricky didn't really care about what I had to say, he was more concerned about getting in my pants."

_Well, you do have nice pants, but I like you more._

Dwayne leaned down and gently kissed her.

_I'd say I'm sorry things didn't work out with Ricky but I'm not. I want you way too much to watch you be happy with someone else. I'm selfish that way._

"Your anything but selfish. Which is why you're the only one I love. Now I'm going to get the game. Does Stratigo sound okay?"

_Sure, I'll wait in the living room. _

"And Dwayne," Hannah called after Dwayne. He stopped. "You might want to consider fixing your hair. It's a right mess. There's a mirror down the hall."

_Talk about yourself why don't you. _Dwayne wrote and then pointed to her hair. Hannah stuck her tongue out at him and then disappeared inside her room.

Dwayne wasn't all that wrong. Her hair was in a right state, so she ran a brush threw it before she returned to the living room with the game under her arm.

Roughly an hour later Hannah and Dwayne were busy making cookies in the kitchen. There innocent game of war ended with them throwing the pieces at each other, which began when Hannah got angry when she lost. So they decided to do something less dangerous, like bake.

_You know I don't really like cookies._

"Just you wait until you've tried these." Hannah said stirring the dough in a large bowl. "These delicious." Hannah said licking some dough off the spatula and then putting it back in the bowl.

_Well, I don't want any now. It's got your spit in it._

"You didn't seem to have a problem with my germs earlier." Dwayne frowned and stuck his tongue out at her. "There's no use in arguing with me. You're going to try one."

At that moment the front door opened and her mother walked in. "Hannah!" She called out.

"I'm in the kitchen Mom!" Before her mother walked into the kitchen she saw Dwayne standing there and stopped in her tracks.

"Oh yeah, Mom, this is Dwayne. He's my new boyfriend. I invited him over. I hope you don't mind." Hannah said trying to look innocent.

"Hello, Dwayne is it." she said stepping into the kitchen after regaining her motor skills. "You look familiar, have I seen you before?"

"You've met him before Mom. We took him to that party remember."

_It is nice to see you again Mrs. Eve._

"Oh, I remember now. You're the quite one. Well, I'll leave you kids to it then." She said getting in the refrigerator and taking out an already prepared sandwich and a bottle of water and as she left the room she said, "Try not to burn down the kitchen."

As soon as they heard her bedroom door shut and a TV turn on somewhere in the house, they looked at each other and laughed. Hannah turned back to the dough and started scooping dollops of it onto the cookie sheet.

"You know I really want to see that movie that's coming out soon. What's it called? The one where the people are being attacked by the chainsaw guy. It's in Texas."

_Texas Chainsaw Massacre?_

"Yeah, that's the one." Dwayne shook his head as he laughed. Hannah opened the oven and slid the sheet in and then proceeded to turn some dials. "And they will be done in roughly 25 minutes."

_You know what I really want to see? You try and make me eat one of those deadly cookies._

"Your going to eat one. The worst that could happen would be that you gain .002 pounds. But then again you don't need to gain any weight, pudgy."

_Don't call me that._

"I'm only joking." Hannah said as she went and hugged him. "You know I love your baby fat." Dwayne tried to push her away as if he was offended but she held on tighter and he didn't object. When she pulled away she quickly pinched his cheek before she turned to clean up there mess. But Dwayne needed to settle the score for that last one. Hannah jumped a little as Dwayne thrust his notepad under her nose.

_You know you look sexy in that apron covered in flour._

Hannah knew he was being sarcastic because he was laughing silently next to her. "Hey!" Hannah grabbed the flour jar and yanked it open and grabbed a fistful and threw it at Dwayne. Dwayne coughed as a second fistful it him in the face. Hannah laughed at how ridiculous he looked with a white face and white dusting over his black hair.

He shook his head violently to get the majority of the flour off. When he could finally see he came at her and yanked the jar away from her and managed to dump its contents on her head while she screamed playfully. He quickly deposited the jar on the counter and then picked her up and swung her in a circle before putting her back on firm ground and kissing her powdered face.

She smiled up into his flour covered face where his brown eyes glowed with happiness. She kissed him again quickly and then turned back to the dishes while Dwayne tried to dust himself off.

"Yay, there done." Hannah squealed when the timer dinged. She slid on an oven mitt and took the sheet out of the oven. "Don't they smell delicious." She picked one up with a spatula and blew on it tying to cool it off quickly. When she was sure it wouldn't burn her she picked it up and took a bite. "Mmm… now that is heaven." She said with her mouth full.

Dwayne stood next to her with his arms folded across his chest. "Now, you're not going to write your way out of it. Eat!" She said holding out her half eaten cookie. Dwayne shook his head. "I didn't poison it, I promise. Please." She proceeded to push out her bottom lip giving him a taste of his own medicine.

Dwayne sighed and took the cookie and ate it. "Mmm…" He moaned, actually enjoying it.

"I know." Hannah said boasting. "I told you you'd like it." Hannah picked up another with the spatula but Dwayne just grabbed one off the sheet and then quickly dropping it to suck on his burnt fingers. "Did I need to warn you that a metal sheet straight from the oven might be a little hot?"

_Ha Ha_

Just then Hannah's mother appeared in the kitchen once more digging in her purse looking for her keys. "Well, I'm headed back to work. You kids be good." When she looked up and saw that her kitchen floor was covered in flour she gasped. "Well, bye Hannah." She said kissing her daughter on the forehead and trying hard not to yell at her in front of Dwayne.

"Bye Mummy."

"I'll be back at five." She said walking towards the door. "I expect the kitchen to be spotless by then." And then as an afterthought, "and stay out of the bedrooms!"

As soon as the door shut behind her Hannah and Dwayne burst out laughing.


	21. Just a matter of time

"1…2…1…2…3…4… I Told You So! I Told You So." Seth had been singing the same song for about an hour straight. All threw lunch Hannah and Dwayne had to suffer threw Seth putting the same four words together over and over again ever since they told him the good news. They were now sitting in Art class and it was wearing thin on there nerves.

"IIIIII Told You So! I Told You So! What did I say?"

"I told you so." Hannah said with no emotion and Dwayne held up his pad.

_I Told You So._

"That's right! I Told You So! I told you so! Solo, I TOLD YOU SOOOO!!"

"Seth, can you please give it a rest, my head is throbbing." Hannah complained.

"Hey, I did tell you so. What did I tell you? That you liked each other, and you do. That you love each other, and you do. That you would end up going out. And you are. So I deserve my right to sing, I Told You So, I Told You So, I Told You So!! Okay, I'm done for the moment. You know Bitchy Ricky isn't at all happy about the two of you. I heard him mouthing off to his friends about the two of you."

_Well, he can just get over it. I have half a mind just to knock his lights out._

"Dwayne, play nice. I don't want to end up dating the expelled guy." Hannah said worriedly.

_I'll do whatever I feel like I want to do._

"Well, I don't think you'll have to worry about him today." Seth mentioned.

"Why not?" Hannah asked.

"Because when I overheard him, I took the liberty of shoving him into the lockers as I passed. I think I broke his nose because he was screaming like a little girl. But then again, he could have just broken a nail. One never knows."

"Guys, I'm asking you, no, begging you, please don't go looking for a fight with Ricky. Just try and ignore him. I don't want you to get hurt, I worry."

"Us hurting him is the more likely scenario."

"Sethefer!" Hannah begged.

"Fine, But if he pushes me too far." Seth swung his fist violently threw the air.

"Seth!"

"I'm not your boyfriend. You can't tell me what to do." Hannah gave a pleading look at Dwayne.

_I'm not promising you anything. I have a right to protect you._

"You guys are impossible." Hannah complained.

"You know it."

_And you can't help but love us anyway._

"Well, just one of you." Hannah said kissing Dwayne on the cheek. Dwayne caught her before she pulled away and kissed her on the lips.

"PDA, you know I'm still here, right?" Seth asked.

"You know this is all your fault. You pushed us together. Remember, I told you so?" Hannah said mocking him.

"I know, but… HEY!" Seth yelled as they started kissing again. They slowly pulled away. "I do like that your together, but I don't need to see it. My virgin eyes!"

_Your not a virgin._

"Stay out of my personal life."

_You told me. You bragged to me. You told me every nasty detail no matter no much I begged you to stop._

Seth thought about that a moment. "Maybe I did, but still… hey… Quit IT!"

----

Lunch on Tuesday was like any other lunch day. The usual chicken nuggets that tasted like rubber, Seth belching the ABC's, and Hannah trying to study her English vocab over it. But one thing that was different was that Dwayne was hurriedly eating his food because he had to go make up a Math test that he missed while ditching with Seth, to specifically miss the test. But the teacher was nice and trusting and decided to give Dwayne time to make it up, much to his dislike.

"RrrrR…SSSssS…TttTttT! Excuse me," Seth said taking a brief intermission and chugging some more root beer.

_I'm going to stop you right there, and leave._

Dwayne wrote piling trash on his tray.

"Excuse UUuuu…"

"You're disgusting." Hannah said almost heaving into the mini salad she was eating.

"Thank you. Dwayne, now remember number 23 is cob salad and 64 is salsa. Pass and I'll take you out for a beer."

_How about I pass and you don't_

"Fair is fair, have fun." Dwayne leaned over and kissed Hannah as he picked up his tray and left. "You know you two make me queasy." Seth said stealing Hannah's half eaten salad while she was preoccupied by watching Dwayne leave.

"You wanted us together you know. Well, all the mushy stuff goes with being a couple." Hannah said finally turning to look at him. "Hey!"

"I thought you were done with it." Seth said with his mouth full.

"I'm still holding the spork! Anyway," She said picking up a cold tater wedge.

"Speaking of couples, will you help me get a girlfriend?"

"Who?" Hannah asked with chicken nugget half way to her mouth.

"Her." Seth said pointing. Hannah turned around in her chair to see Seth pointing to a group of girls, mostly from her Drama class.

"Yeah, still not clear."

"Brown hair, red shirt, smokin' hot."

"Amanda!"

"Yeah, Manda. Pretty girl. So, do you think she'll go out with me?" Seth asked looking eager

"She doesn't know you."

"That's where you come in. Help me out please. I've seen you talking to her. You can talk me up to her and then introduce me. Say I'm witty, voluptuous, funny, charming, a real looker."

"Ha…" Hannah said standing up as the cafeteria emptied.

"Well, voluptuous might be a stretch, but I'm good looking, right." Seth asked following her into the hall.

"Your, average."

"Average! I'd say I'm at least a ten."

"Ten out of what? A hundred?"

"Hey, what do you call Dwayne then? I'm just as good looking as he is!"

"With a scale of one to ten, he is 220."

"Your bias."

"Oh, but he's so cute."

"I don't think so."

"You're a guy."

"So…"

"Hey!" They heard someone yell. "Maximum!"

They stopped and turned to see Ricky standing with his friends. They were all laughing stupidly at some inside joke.

"So I see you've never changed your stripes." Ricky continued, "you still like hanging out with sluts." Ricky said glaring hatefully at Hannah.

"Seth, don't" Hannah whispered to him, tugging lightly on his sleeve trying to pull him away.

"Well, I really don't think she is one. Your only mad because she wouldn't sleep with you. That's it isn't it? Because she didn't want to get herpes from you. So why don't you go off and shag a cheerleader and give her aids instead. You know, since they have no morals."

"I heard you still sleep on the streets. I'm surprised you haven't got rabies from your rat neighbors."

"I'm more surprised your sister isn't in jail for giving blow jobs behind the supermarket on 12th street."

"What about your mother? Doesn't she work as a stripper downtown?"

"Fuck off." Seth said finally turning to leave with Hannah who had been tugging on his sleeve the whole time.

"Tell your friend Dwayne he had better watch his back. You might as well start picking out a headstone for what I'm going to do to your boyfriend Hannah, he's going to need it."

Seth had stopped and was clenching his fists.

"Just ignore him." Hannah whispered.

"You should listen to your friend, trailer trash. Even if she if a whore."

Seth slowly turned to face Ricky, with his teeth clenched and no reason to hold him back.

----

Dwayne got to Art late, and was surprised that Hannah and Seth weren't there. Class was already half over, where could they be? He though of asking Miss Ives as he handed her his pass but though better of it. She was too much of a gossip queen to be much help. She would just grill him for another half hour about his relationship with Hannah and he wouldn't get anything done.

So he sat down at there empty table and started reading his book. It was only after ten minutes that he realized he was still on the same line he had started on. So he put away his book and stared at the clock on the wall and worried away another five minutes about where his friends were.

He pulled a piece of paper out of his bag and started mindlessly drawing. Where were they? What could they possibly be up to? It was almost the end of the hour.

Just when he could stand it no longer the door to the room crept open and Hannah and Seth walked in. Hannah was standing close to Seth helping him along because Seth was limping a little while holding an icepack over his right eye.

Dwayne stared at them with his mouth hanging open a little. Seth hobbled over to Ms. Ives first and handed her a hall pass. While they approached Dwayne quickly wrote on his notepad.

Seth and Hannah sat down across from Dwayne. Hannah rubbed Seth's back sympathetically while Seth groaned holding the ice over his eye.

_What the hell happened?_

"Ricky hit him." Hannah said still rubbing Seth's back.

"I hit him back!" Seth said irritably, "and he nearly fucking died."

"That he did. You should see Ricky, he looks five times worse. They had to send him home." Hannah said putting her hands on the table and looking at Dwayne.

"Only because he screamed like a baby with they tried to put alcohol on his cuts." Seth said snidely.

_So you guys were in the nurse's office the whole time?_

"Well, after the fight." Hannah agreed.

"Hey, now were even for that strawberry yogurt you bought me."

"All right…" Hannah said as Seth held out a clenched fist and she bumped it with her fist.

_What happened though?_

"Ricky was being a little bastard and talking trash about me, you, and Hannah." Seth answered.

_What did he say?_

"Oh, just stupid things," Seth began nonchalantly. "Like, I'm homeless. He's going to kill you. Hannah's such a whore."

_What!_

"Yeah, I had enough of that too. So I punched him. Well, not at first. I just pushed him so he hit me first, thus the eye, then I got him. See, I'm smart. If they throw the first punch I don't get in trouble; just the whole you know better, just give me one more reason to suspend you speech. Blah, Blah, Blah. Wake me when the bell rings." Seth said laying his head on the table.

"Oh Dwayne," Hannah said scooting her chair around the table towards him. "I'm so glad you weren't there. I couldn't bear it if you were hurt." Hannah said hugging Dwayne and kissing him repeatedly on the cheek.

"Please promise me you won't get into it with Ricky. I want you in one piece." She said holding onto him tighter.

_What makes you think I'll get hurt?_

"I don't know. I just don't want you to take a chance." Hannah said kissing his cheeks again as Seth groaned loudly trying to ignore them. Dwayne turned his head and kissed her as he thought about what he would do it Ricky confronted him. He knew he would protect what he had. What Ricky had first, but what was rightfully his. All he knew for sure was he couldn't promise Hannah anything, because he knew he would have to face the inevitable eventually. It was just a matter of time.


	22. The Plebeians Amusement

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading my little story. I hope your still enjoying it. Please review and tell me what you think.**

It was late in the day on Wednesday, and Dwayne had just gotten out of English. Just one more period and school would be over for the day. He watched the ground as he stumbled threw the second floor mosh pit of students as he made his way to Geometry. His thoughts were askew as he thought about dinner. He hoped his mother would make something good so he wouldn't have to suffer threw more drive threw dinning.

He almost fell as something him hard in the shoulder. He looked around after he quickly steadied himself and saw Ricky laughing with merrily with his friends. Obviously Ricky had run into him thinking it would be funny.

Dwayne scowled deeply at him and then turned to leave thinking of Hannah's pleading words to leave it alone. But Ricky had other plans.

"What, your not man enough to face me. I'm talking to you!" Ricky called after him. Dwayne stopped and slowly turned to look into the face of his enemy. "What, your suddenly to good to fight for yourself. You have you street scum friends do it for you." Dwayne just stood there seething inside. A crowd had already started to gather, eager to see a fight. "Well, your friends aren't here now to protect you, so what are you going to do?" Dwayne gritted his teeth, but still trying to have some self control. "Well, I should say 'friend' since you only have one." Ricky looked curiously at Dwayne wondering why he hadn't come at him yet.

"Well, let's go." Ricky said turning to his friends. "He's obviously a wimp, and what fun would it be just to kill him." Ricky had turned and had started walking away with Dwayne's reasoning snapped like a twig.

It all happened fast. Dwayne tossed his bag on the ground and took off after Ricky. He pushed Ricky from behind, ready for this fight, but so was Ricky. As Ricky turned he swung and got Dwayne in the jaw. Dwayne wasted no time and swung at Ricky with perfect aim, breaking his nose on contact.

Ricky doubled over in agony as he clutched his nose that was bleeding freely. As Ricky stood straighter ready to come at Dwayne again, Dwayne threw himself at Ricky, throwing them both into the lockers.

Dwayne felt blood tricking down his chin from his busted lip as Ricky pushed him forward and they tumbled to the ground in the middle of a circle of wide eyed onlookers who continued to chant 'fight fight fight,' which Dwayne never remembers hearing.

----

Seth was leaving Geometry on the second floor and contemplating ditching resource when he saw the hallway empting around him and people flocking to the corridor ahead. This could only mean one thing. Fight!

Sure enough as he approached the mass of gathered plebeians he heard the steady chant that all high school students come to recognize as meaning 'free show'. Seth pushed threw the thick of people trying to get a look at who was having it out today. He always disagreed with people who said you should just talk it out. Fighting was speaking, just with your fists. Just another way of expressing yourself was his motto.

As he pushed his way to the forefront he saw that he was too late. The fight was almost over. He couldn't immediately see who it was because Mr. Site, the shop teacher and Mr. Campbell, a grade level principal were pulling the two ruffians apart. Although, they weren't succeeding. The two boys were both lying on the ground and trying with all there might to continue the brawl with there fists and feet going every which way.

The authority figures were having trouble separating the two, but Mr. Campbell finally managed to pull the one boy to his feet and Seth immediately recognized who was involved.

Dwayne was the one pulled to his feet first, but didn't look to eager to obey. Seth's jaw dropped as he took in the whole scene before him. Dwayne had a small line of dried blood going down his chin, but looked completely fine next to Ricky who was still lying on the floor.

His black eye was still very noticeable which Seth gave him personally the day before, but now it was complimented by what looked like a broken nose. Ricky had blood all down his front, and was apparently still bleeding as Ricky now held his hand over his face as Mr. Site roughly pulled Ricky to his feet.

This was the last site of them Seth had as they were both dragged down the hallway towards the vice principals office.

"Oh my God!" Seth heard someone shriek from next to him. Seth turned to see Hannah holding her hands over her mouth. "What happened?" Hannah demanded of Seth, making it clear she had seen who was involved.

"Dwayne kicked Ricky's ass."

"Oh good lord. Why didn't you stop him!" Hannah yelled repeatedly smacking Seth on the arm. But before he could reply that he only got there in time to see the end of it she stopped hitting him and spoke, "he wasn't hurt was he?" She asked looking terrified.

"Not too bad. Ricky looks far worse. You should see him. Blood everywhere." Seth said smiling.

"I don't give a damn about Ricky! What happened to Dwayne?" Hannah yelled at him. Neither of them had noticed the halls around them were emptying as people hurried off to classes having wasted most of the passing period on watching an epic fight.

"He's fine. Chill. Just hope he doesn't get expelled for the rest of the week."

"This is all my fault."

"Now don't go blaming yourself. That is the last thing Dwayne needs to hear. He'll feel so guilty that you're blaming yourself for what he did."

"I… he shouldn't… it…"

"Dwayne's just trying to protect you. Now, it's all Ricky's fault. He could have just left you alone after you two broke up, but no. He had to stroke his ego and go after everyone you cared about. Which just happened to be Dwayne. You going out with Ricky has nothing to do with Ricky being the enormous ass that he is." Hannah let a smile slip. "Now, lets just hope Ricky gets deported or something and when you see Dwayne just kiss all his burses and tell him you love him. Let it go."

They were interrupted by the sound of the bell signaling that they were now late to class. "Shit." Hannah breathed. "I've never been late before."

"Why ruin a perfect record now?" Seth said noticing Dwayne's bag lying against the opposite lockers.

"What are you thinking?"

"We take Dwayne's bag to the office and tell them a teacher told us to bring it down. They write us a pass to class. Problem solved." Seth said picking Dwayne's bag up and starting to walk down the hall towards the second floor offices.

"What about Ricky's bag?" Hannah asked. Seth turned, surprised one of Ricky's lap dogs didn't retrieve it. Then an idea struck.

"Here, carry this." Seth said pushing Dwayne's bag into Hannah's unexpecting arms. He picked up Ricky's bag up trying to touch as little fabric as possible, acting like it had germs.

He walked a little ways down the hall, with Hannah in pursuit, and stopped when he spotted a locker without a lock and opened it and deposited Ricky's bag inside, shutting the door behind it.

"Now that that's taken care of, you can give me that." Seth said taking the bag from Hannah and they continued together down the hall to the offices lobby.

----

Dwayne sat in the vice principal's office with a paper towel to his lower lip. He was pretty sure it had stopped bleeding but it still stung. Ricky was sitting in the chair next to his, and he kept making groaning noises every few seconds. Dwayne couldn't even look at him without the risk of laughing.

Ricky had at least 20 tissues held up to his nose that was still bleeding lightly. Even the shiner Seth gave him yesterday seemed more comical in the yellow light in this fancy office Dwayne had been in many times. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ricky kept glaring at him hatefully. He knew it was only the presence of Mr. Campbell that kept the two of them from attacking each other again as they waited for Mr. Swallows, the vice principal, to show up.

"Sorry I'm late." Dwayne heard Mr. Swallows exclaim as the door to the office opened behind him. "Now, what do we have here? Both familiar faces, and bruised at that. Might I assume you boys have been in a scuffle? Eh?" Mr. Swallows said in that sugary false that always aggravated Dwayne. It was like he was trying overly hard to be your best friend. A best friend that would expel you the moment you set a toe out of line.

"Yes, sir." Mr. Campbell said from the corner as Mr. Swallows sunk into his chair. "They were having it out on the second floor during passing period."

"Well," Mr. Swallows continued as he straitened some pitchers on his desk, taking care not to look at either of them. "What was so important you had to shed blood over it, in my high school? Hum?"

Dwayne wanted to say that it wasn't his high school, that it was the counties and that he wasn't even the principal. But vow of silence and the little point of 'I don't want to be expelled' held him back.

But he wasn't about to tell him the truth either. Neither, apparently, did Ricky for neither of them moved a muscle or spoke.

"Well, can you at least tell me how it started?" Mr. Swallows asked looking up at them as he pulled some forms out from his desk. Here we go, thought Dwayne. He only wants to know who instigated it. So, Dwayne whipped out his pad and wrote down the truth.

_Ricky hit me first, I was just defending myself._

"Cat got your tongue, Dwayne?" Mr. Swallows asked jokingly.

_Vow of silence._

"Nonsense, my boy." Dwayne closed his eyes and breathed deeply trying to be serene. Mr. Swallows quickly scribbled on the forms as he continued. "Now, both of your parents have been called. They will be here shortly to pick you up."

'That will go over well.' Dwayne thought.

Mr. Swallows ripped off the top form and handed it over his desk to Dwayne who took it. "You will serve two detentions, starting tomorrow after school. I trust you can find your way." Well, that turned out better than he expected. Now, what would Ricky get? A promotion to football captain?

"Now for you Mr. Velt. Seeing as you've taken a liking to using the student body of Tinstone high school as your own personal punching bag you will be expelled for seven days."

"What!" Ricky yelled.

Dwayne couldn't control his laughter any longer and broke into a wide smile as he reveled.

"Seeing as this is the second fight in two days that you've instigated, I'd say your getting off light."

"This isn't fair!"

"I'd say it's very fair. Now if you get in one more brawl I will have no choice but to ban you from all organized sports."

"What!!"

"Maybe you should keep that in mind before you let your hormones get the better of you again. Mr. Hoover you are free to go. Wait for your mother in the lobby until she signs you out."

Dwayne got up obediently tossing the paper towel in the waste bin before he exited the office. He could feel Mr. Campbell's eyes barring into his neck. He knew what he wanted to say to him. 'That your getting off light. I've got my eye on you. If I were vice principal… so help me….' Same old same old. He shut the door on the sound of Mr. Swallows scratching pen as he filled out Ricky's more complicated form.

"Monsieur," said the French receptionist. How a French woman ended up in Albuquerque he had no idea. "Your bag wazz dropped off." She handed him his bag over the counter and he knew that Hannah must have dropped it off. He didn't know why he was sure it was her, but he knew it was.

He couldn't help but smile as he sat down and waited for Sheryl, but he stopped smiling immediately when he felt the scab on his lip starting to stretch.


	23. Punishment

**Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I've been busy. So busy that for a few days I didn't even touch my computer let alone have time to write anything. This chapter isn't very long but I'll try to make up for it soon. Meanwhile, enjoy this little installment.**

"I thought we were over this." Sheryl said as she paced across the living room in front of Dwayne who was more interested in staring at the carpet fibers than listening to what she was saying.

"What is it going to take to get your aggression down? At this rate you'll be expelled by your junior year. I really just don't know how to deal with this anymore. I really don't." Dwayne didn't hear a word of this as he started counting bricks on the wall behind his mother, giving the illusion that he was listening.

He started thinking about dinner. He was awfully hungry. Then he thought of Hannah. What was she thinking about? Did she get home okay? He glanced at the clock behind his passing mother. It was 4:20. She would be home by now.

"You'll be grounded for a week and do the dishes for two. I think that's fair." Dwayne nodded. He always seemed to zone back in when it was about the punishment. "Well?" She always expected him to protest, to be like normal kids and scream, 'Mom, that's so unfair!' It wasn't completely unfair, and she forgot he really had no where to go, so the punishment really had no effect on him.

_It's almost 4:30_

"Shit." Sheryl breathed as she looked at her watch. On Wednesday Olive went to the Boys and Girls Club because Sheryl worked later and she was supposed to be picked up at 4:30. "Well, I'll pick dinner up on the way home." There goes washing dishes, which he did anyway. "Go to your room." He was going to anyway. "Don't leave your room until I get home." Wouldn't think of it, Dwayne though as he walked down the hall and shut his door just as Sheryl left.

He flopped down on his bed and absentmindedly stared at the ceiling, not really thinking of anything. No time seemed to have passed when he heard the doorbell ring. He raised his eyebrow as he sat up. Who in the world would be dropping by? The doorbell rang and rang from and impatient finger as Dwayne stumbled his way to the front door. Alright already, he was coming!

Hannah threw herself at him the moment the door was open an inch.

"I've been so worried about you since I heard. Are you okay?" Hannah kissed his cheeks vigorously as she pulled away. It was almost as if she was afraid that he was going to disappear beneath her fingers.

As she pulled away from him she looked him up and down trying to evaluate his appearance. Obviously trying to spot his injuries. That's when she saw his lip. He knew by her look that she had seen it. She didn't need to say anything as she reached out and ran her fingers across his lips. Dwayne closed his eyes at her gentle touch.

"Oh Dwayne, I'm sorry you got hurt." Hannah said.

Dwayne reached for his pad when he realized it wasn't in his back pocket. That's right, he left it in the car. He grabbed Hannah's hand and pulled her towards the kitchen. When he was there he took the notepad off the fridge and scribbled a note with the felt pen.

_How did you get here?_

"I walked of course. I really wanted to see you, to make sure you were okay. I felt terrible knowing that you might be hurt." Hannah said hugging his tall frame and laying her head against his chest.

Dwayne stroked her hair before pulling her up and kissing her. He ignored the pain in his lip as he kissed her deeper and pushed his tongue into her willing mouth as he pushed her against the fridge. She held one hand against his chest while the other touched his soft black hair. He relished in the way her body felt gently pressed against his.

He broke the kiss soon enough because he had no time to waste. Although he really didn't care, he cared for her sake. He didn't want to be separated for longer than need be.

_Just to let you know I'm grounded, and as much as I'd love you to stay, I really don't want to see my mothers face when she sees me 'out of my room' which is my fortress until next Wednesday._

"Alright, I'll head home. I just wanted to make sure you were all right." Hannah said as she stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.

She started walking away from his briskly but he caught her at the door and kissed her again with the notepad and pen still clutched in his hand.

_I love you_

Dwayne wrote after the kiss broke. "Love you too muscle man. See you tomorrow." Hannah blew him a kiss on her way out the door that melted his heart. He shut the door behind her and tore off the pages he had written on and replaced the pad on the fridge to maintain the illusion that he had never been out of his room.

He shut himself in his room only to lie back on his bed and stare at the ceiling. He already missed Hannah and those beautiful brown eyes. He stayed in his room the rest of the night, only to resurface for dinner and a quick game of checkers with Olive. Sleep was easy that night because sleep comes easy when you know that you love someone, and you are loved too.


	24. Hot pink marshmallows

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading; I hope you keep enjoying this as much as I like writing it. There's much more to come, although I can't say when. I'm back in school, so that will be putting the brakes on the writing while my friends inspire me with there goofy antics that might just appear sooner than later. Art imitates life, and high school is my greatest inspiration. Keep reviewing, and Enjoy!**

"And I woke up just as they started taking off their clothes." Seth said with a flourish as he ended the story of his dream last night. Hannah felt like gagging as she had to endure 20 minutes in Art class trying not to let her mind pitcher Seth's disturbing sexual fantasies he claimed were dreams. "Don't look at me like that." Seth said as he saw the look on her face. "At least I didn't tell you the dream I had where I got locked in Wal-Mart overnight. With the poisonous snakes."

"Wal-Mart is open 24/7. And they don't sell poisonous snakes." Hannah pronounced as she tossed a crayon she was done with back into the box that was propped open in the middle of the table.

"I know that. That's why it was a dream." The look on Hannah's face didn't change. "Alright! I won't enlighten you with any more of my personal thoughts."

"That's all I ask." She said as she took a rose colored crayon. "So Dwayne. Have you had any wet dreams lately?" Hannah snickered but Dwayne's cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

It had been a month since Dwayne had had his fight with Ricky, and life was normal again. Or at least as normal as a teenagers life could be. Richard wasn't at all pleased, and pressed upon Sheryl even more persistently that Dwayne had behavioral issues. Sheryl wouldn't hear of it and so they fought, and fought some more.

Hannah had somehow persuaded Amanda to take a liking in Sethefer and they have been going out ever since. Even though they had only been going out 2 weeks and Hannah and Dwayne had been going out for at least a good month, Amanda and Seth had done a lot more stuff than what Hannah and Dwayne had even begun to think about. Even though the reason was probably because Hannah and Dwayne were still virgins, and Seth and Amanda, well, weren't, it didn't make Dwayne fell good when he had to listen to Seth's stories and feel like Hannah was expecting him to, well, 'step up'.

For many reasons it terrified him. Mainly, he didn't really know what to do, and he would never ever ask Seth for fear of what he might say, and say to Hannah. Also, would Hannah want to do anything like that?

He somewhat voiced his fears to Hannah, and she admitted she too wasn't ready. This eased his soul a little, but also unnerved it more, for, what if she was lying to try and not hurt his feelings.

He tried not to think of it as November turned into December and Hannah and Dwayne filled there days playing in the little snow that did fall in New Mexico, and Seth and Amanda spent there time in Cineplex's and in Seth's garage making out. On today's particular Saturday Dwayne, Hannah, and Olive were in the park. Olive had been stuffed into a large puffy snowsuit, so that she looked like a large pink marshmallow. The only part of Olive that could be seen was two eyes peaking our from behind the hood with her mouth and nose covered in a scarf.

Dwayne didn't know why his mother forced Olive into all that junk when all he had to wear was a heavy coat and knitted gloves. To be quit honest he always felt like he was being forced into an oven and set to roast. He didn't think it was that cold outside. And Sheryl always thought that the few inches of snow on the ground were going to come after her children like an avalanche.

Dwayne was supposed to be watching his little sister on the snow covered swings in actuality he was chasing Hannah around the small park in a heated snow ball fight. He stopped behind a tree to catch his breath. Boy, that girl could run when she put her heart into it. He stooped to gather some wet snow, perfect for snow balls. Something wet hit him in the side of the head. By the time he shook the snow out of his ear he heard that distinctive giggle that was like the tinkle of bells. He got to his feet quickly and he was off like a cheetah to find Hannah's hiding spot. She wasn't hard to find because as soon as he started running in her general direction she screamed and took off again. He really wanted to catch her this time so he forced his legs to go impossibly fast. He started gaining on her, and every time she looked his way she let out a playful scream and tried to go faster. When he was in throwing range he lobbed the snowball at her back. It hit her and she yelled again, and started to slow. He wasn't about to stop and she was out of ideas of how to avoid him. Finally he was upon her and as soon as she was within arms length he grabbed her and pulled her to him.

She squealed with delight as he caught her. With her sudden weight added to him plus the speed in which he caught her he felt his legs start to wobble as his balance went. Hannah screamed pleasantly as they tumbled to the ground.

Hannah laughed as he rolled on top of her. "Took you long enough to catch me pudgy." Hannah said tapping him on the nose. He crinkled it at her as he bent down and kissed her. She kissed him back and her tender lips warmed his chilled body.

After a few seconds she pushed him away and then looking up at him pinched both his cheeks at the same time. He hated it when she did this. He wanted to groan. But he didn't, he just sat up and rubbed his face giving her and irritated look that couldn't be farther from his feelings for her.

Hannah sat up too and brushed off her coat. "What time is it?" She asked but didn't wait for an answer and just grabbed his arm and pushed up his sleeve, and then proceeded to twist his arm around until it was at an extremely odd angle, just so she could see the time.

"It's a bit passed 3." She said this as if it were an inauguration speech. He shrugged. "I have to be home by 4 today so I can witness more spousal disputes. AND! You promised to feed me." She said playfully jabbing him in the stomach.

He threw his hands up in the air dramatically and jumped to his feet and motioned her to follow. A signal that she was getting her way. She clapped her gloved hands together happily as he brushed the snow off his backside, which didn't really help anything considering that his jeans were soaked clean threw. He helped her to her feet, and they walked back to where Olive was struggling across the monkey bars, which is pretty difficult when you're dressed for a rescue mission in the Alps.

Dwayne was writing on his notepad all the way to where Olive was and wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Although he didn't look up once, he got down the hill to the playground without so much as faltering a step although Hannah almost fell flat on her face more than once. I guess some people just have a better center of gravity.

_Olive, its time to eat. What do you want?_

Dwayne held the note in front of his sister's face while she dangled. "Pizza!" Came the muffled reply as she dropped to her feet.

They started walking in the direction of more civilized land with Olive in front. Dwayne took off his soaked gloves, and Hannah followed suit and they held each others icy fingers. Hannah smiled up at him that content smile of hers that told him they were a perfect match. Which is a translation for they frustrated each other within reason and were cute enough to forget about it.

Olive led the way as they trekked to A to Z Pizza dragging a stick threw the snow that was compacted on the sidewalk. Dwayne always loathed A to Z pizza, and not just for the greasy food. The name was stupid too. But it was the closet pizza parlor that was in proximity to there walk home.

Dwayne could just feel his arteries clogging as he ate threw the two pieces Hannah forced on him once in the restaurant, saying she was not going to have a boyfriend who was going to starve himself. But it was all worth it seeing Hannah and Olive joking and laughing as they happily ate. See the balance?

When they were waiting for the check Olive said she needed to use the restroom, and as much as Dwayne insisted on sending Hannah with her she wouldn't have it. Exclaiming loudly that she was 5! Not 4! And that she would be 6 soon enough. Dwayne felt very embarrassed as all of the 3 old couples that were in the restaurant at the time stared and chuckled.

Olive had her way and Hannah slid out of the booth and gathered up about 80 percent of the snowsuit that Olive had shed threw the meal. Dwayne thought she looked very motherly as she picked Olives gloves off the table and kissed him on the cheek as he stood and told him that she would be waiting up front for Olive. There middle aged waitress swung by as she was taking some drinks to table number 5, and handed him the bill.

He dropped about 75 cents on the table, which was the most tip he could afford. He was about to walk to the front to pay when Olives half emptied pink lemonade caught his eye. He wasn't about to pay for something that was going to be poured down the drain, so he hastily picked up the glass and drained it in 3 hasty large gulps. He put the now emptied glass back on the table and hurried to the front, where Hannah was giggling to herself. Apparently she saw him being conservative.

Once the bill was paid, and Olive looking like the marshmallows man who had a freak accident and got dyed hot pink, they were on the sidewalk again with Olive in the lead, running ahead and picking up stones and pitching them into the snow, finding it interesting the holes they made upon impact.

Dwayne and Hannah were holding each others mitted hands and Olive was skipping in front of them on a patch of sidewalk cleared free of snow.

"Will you take me to the park again tomorrow?" Olive asked turning to see her brother's reaction.

Dwayne nodded his head so his long hair fell into his face.

"Can Hannah come to?" Olive asked looking hopeful.

Dwayne looked over at her.

"No, my parents want me to stay home for a few days." Olive kicked a snow bank nearby when she heard the bad news, but continued onward. Hannah gave Dwayne a look of sadness. He knew she wanted nothing more than to stay with him. But she had to go home to the battle ground sooner or later and there moments of happiness were few, and some hours seem to fly while others slam on there brakes.

Hannah brushed the hair out of Dwayne's face and tucked it behind his ear, kissing his cheek lightly before resting her head on his shoulder as they walked back towards the real world.


	25. Swiss Cheese

**Author's Note: Sorry it took, oh so long to update. Be angry with my teachers and them assigning homework. Grr, oh well, Enjoy!**

"Stop it and help me with this." Hannah said as she poured over her essay on the moon. It was part of her final for Biology. There was only one more day until Christmas break, and her essay wasn't even half done. It was lunch on Wednesday, and the next day was there last day.

Needless to say, Dwayne and Seth weren't helping. Only Amanda was helping her pour over her textbook. Hannah was happy to finally have a girl around to help mediate the boys. Although at times she was more hinder than help, but then again, at times, she was sure she was too.

"Now, Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon, in 1969. Now what else?" Hannah said as her pen scribbled across the page.

_The moon is made of Swiss cheese._

"We all know there's a Walgreen's open 24/7 on the moon." Seth said as he and Dwayne laughed.

Hannah punched Dwayne on the arm because she had had enough of his shit. How could he not be freaking out right now? "Stop it," Hannah hissed at him. She wanted to hit Seth too but he was too far away.

Dwayne scowled at her and rubbed his arm.

"Oh, watch out Dwayne. Hannah just put on the pants in this relationship." Seth said while laughing.

_No she didn't. I'm the man here._

Dwayne didn't think about what he was writing and when Hannah saw what he wrote, she turned her back on him, and faced Amanda. The two put there heads together, ignoring the boys.

"Man Dwayne, you just got told. OoOhh!"

Dwayne fumed the rest of lunch while Seth pondered aloud the possibilities of weather or not President Bush had the authority to declare war on the Moon. Hannah seemed less mad as they walked to class. She held his hand, but she didn't really talk to him. Art was especially painful, because he had to sit next to a fuming princess who was finishing her essay.

"YES!" Hannah said joyously in a deep voice as she threw her pencil down on the table and it spun across the table hitting Seth in the arm. "I'M DONE! WOOO!" Hannah yelled in Dwayne's ear.

_Glad to hear it._

"I'm going to go fill my water bottle." Hannah said leaving the table, blowing Dwayne a kiss on the way out the door.

"You're so whipped." Seth said shaking his head as if he was disappointed.

_And your not?_

Dwayne wrote pointing at Seth's bracelet that said I LOVE AMANDA.

"Fuck off." Seth said as Dwayne followed Hannah into the hall.

Art was seriously the best class ever, because you could leave whenever you wanted to because the teacher didn't pay attention to her students. Also the Art rooms were on there own wing of the school so the hallway was always empty, and you could never get caught by wondering principals.

Hannah was at the water fountain filling her bottle and Dwayne hugged her from behind, kissing her neck. Hannah giggled.

"Hey lover boy." Hannah said topping off her water bottle and fastening the lid back on and setting it atop the fountain. She turned around in his arms and stood on her tip toes and kissed him.

_Are you mad at me?_

"Why would I be mad at you?" Hannah asked concerned.

_Because I was being an idiot in lunch._

"Your always an idiot, and I love you." Hannah said kissing the tip of his nose.

_I just don't want you to be upset with me, ever._

"That will never happen. But, if it makes you feel better, you can make it up to me by giving me a Christmas present."

_I was going to give you a Christmas present anyway._

"Then it's settled. Now back in the classroom before I report you!"

_Yes, Mrs. Eve._

"Shut your face and never call me that again, HOOVER! Move it Hoover." Hannah said smacking him on the butt. Dwayne looked at her scandalized. Hannah snickered.

Dwayne had no choice but to trot back into the Art room. "Jezz, you guys took a long time. What did you do? Have a quickie in the bathroom?" Seth said snickering.

"HardyHarHar." Hannah said irritated. "So what is are final in English, anyway?" Hannah asked because they all had the same English teacher, just not together.

"Something about making up a slogan for some kind of 'imaginary' product. Remember the activity we did the other day when we had to remember a bunch of product slogans?" Seth said scribbling threw whatever he was writing and starting over.

"Oh yeah, have it your way!" Hannah sang.

"Ba Da Bup Bup Ba, I'm lovin' it!"

"Always great, even late."

"I'm thinking Arbys."

"Snap into a Slim Jim."

"Messing with Sasquatch."

"I want your bod." Hannah laughed.

"Yeah, how dirty boys get clean."

"That commercial is so disturbing. With the guys butt print on the shower door. Eww."

"Yeah, like I want your bod's not disturbing?" Seth said. Needless to say this is how they spent the rest of art class.

Dwayne plopped down next to Hannah on the bus after school.

"So what are you doing tomorrow after school?" Hannah asked.

_I'm going to Seth's house, do you want to come?_

"As long as I can clean out my locker after school. I have like my entire winter wardrobe in there. I'm running out of coats, seriously."

_So don't forget to tell the parentals you won't be on the bus tomorrow._

"No problamo."

-----

"Yes! It's spaghetti day! Hell yea!" Seth said running ahead of Hannah and Dwayne to get in the lunch line. It was the last day before Winter Break and half there finals were already over.

"Would you like some spaghetti?" Hannah asked in her best Italian accent.

_Why not?_

"I'm not very hungry right now, so I'll get it for you. And save me a seat. Those stupid freshmen have been stealing our seats lately."

_You sound like Seth._

"Leave me alone."

_Go get my food!_

Hannah giggled as Dwayne went to the pop machine while Hannah went to line 3. He got back to there table before she did. Seth tossed his tray in front of Dwayne making him jump.

_They only gave you one breadstick?_

"Yeah, the stupid bitch is bogarting them. I'm never going in line 2 again."

_You always say that._

"This time I mean it, I've had enough of this shit." Seth taking a bite of his food and then dumping the shredded cheese they gave him on top of the pasta.

Just then Amanda and Hannah arrived sitting down next to there boys.

"Here you go." Hannah said setting down her tray in front of Dwayne and taking the Styrofoam bowl of apples off for herself.

"How come you get two bread sticks?" Seth complained.

"Line 3, bitch." Hannah said, she too being aware of Seth and his line 2 issues.

"Don't call me bitch, you…" Seth paused knowing Dwayne wasn't above knocking his teeth out. "…apple eater. Why are the breadsticks always rock hard? There giving us weapons."

"They really want us to battle."

"Mortal Combat!" Seth said, proceeding to sing the theme song. "Test your might. Do do do do dodo. Excellent…" Hannah and Amanda were dying laughing. Dwayne thought it was funny too, but he couldn't get over his jealousy of Seth. He wished he hadn't taken his vow of silence. He wished he could make Hannah laugh like that at something he said. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but couldn't. It was killing him.

"What wrong Dwayne, PMSing again?" Seth asked laughing.

"Shut up Sethefer." Hannah said.

"Amanda, are you coming over after school." Seth asked.

"No, I'm not."

"Why?"

"Because I hate Andy and I'm going to Boston tomorrow and I haven't packed yet." Amanda said eating her mini-salad.

"Andy's awesome."

"Andy's a dick."

"Who are you talking about?" Hannah asked.

"Andrew. You'll meet him after school." Seth explained.

"Run for your sanity." Amanda said.

"Too late. I'm making you come over. It'll be awesome." Seth said.

"I'm afraid." Hannah said biting an apple.

"You've met Andy before haven't you?" Seth asked Dwayne.

_Yeah, I've had a class or two with him._

"How crazy is he?" Hannah asked.

_No worse than us._

"Yeah, that helps. We belong in an asylum."

"Are you done with your apples already?" Seth asked.

"I'm not hungry."

"FYI, I don't have any food at my house. At least not anything eatable."

"Oh I've got donuts in my locker."

"Dibs."

"There mine not yours. So I think it's up to me if you can have any." Seth pouted at her. "Fine, you can have some."

"Apple Party!" Seth said reaching across the table and acting like he was going to throw her apples into the air.

"I thought you were really going to do that." Hannah said after she ducked.

"Nah, hey Dwayne. I'm such a good Ninja that right now I'm in your coke, stealing your fizz. Be afraid, be very afraid. Mwahahaha!" Dwayne just stared at him chewing his food slowly.

"Seth why don't you tone it down a notch?" Amanda asked nodding her head towards where a group of freshmen were eyeing us curiously.

Seth looked down the table and yelled, "Boo!"


	26. The Stupidity of Teenagers Part 1

**Author's Note: I hope this chapter makes up for my lack of posting in awhile. Sorry about the ending, I'll try and post the rest as soon as possible. It just got too long to put in one chapter. Later!**

The school bell bleated out one last time signaling the end of the day. Every student rushed towards the nearest exit, ready to start there holiday break. Ready to be free of the school. But not the four individuals whom we are discussing.

Hannah stood at her locker with Dwayne. She spun the dial selecting the right numbers in sequential order.

"You haven't seen Disturbia yet? It is such a good movie. We'll have to rent it this weekend and watch it. It's so creepy. I screamed. DAMIT!" Hannah said when her lock didn't come open. "I hate this locker! The lock always sticks!" Hannah said yanking with all her might on the metal lock. "UGH!" Hannah said kicking her locker and then dropping all the books she was carrying. "UGHAH!" Hannah half cried and yelled as she went across the hall to pick up her Geometry text book which she proceeded to fling it at her locker. It didn't even make a dint. Poop.

_Why don't you let me open it?_

"Fine! The numbers are 23, 3, and 13." Hannah said gathering her books in the empty side hall by the gym.

"Hey party people and the place to be!" Seth yelled as he approached. Hannah looked over and saw a pale boy on Seth's heals. He was really skinny and had short straggly brown hair. His clothes were tight on his body and Hannah was sure he was wearing girls jeans. This boy with the gaged ears looked very emo.

Dwayne pulled down on the lock and it popped open on the first try.

"I hate you." Hannah said to Dwayne.

"Yeah, a simple hi would be nice. I would settle for howdy. But no! See if I invite you to my house again." Seth pouted.

"Hello Seth, would you like some tea? Here hold these." Hannah said pushing the three textbooks she was holding into his arms and then placing her 20 pound book bag on top of that.

"What am I? A bloody coffee table."

"If I say so." Hannah said opening her locker which was overflowing with sweatshirts and coats. Not to mention the top shelf that was stuffed with papers.

Seth whistled. "And I thought I was disorganized. Well, anyways, I guess I'll do the introductions because no one else seems willing. To my left is the dashing debonair Andrew Krass." Andrew smiled quickly before his expression was set again. It was if he was unsure about something. "The seething little lady is Hannah, and the silent wonder is Dwayne. Be amazed by your surroundings. Be amazed!" Seth demanded.

"I am, very amazed." Andy said finally breaking a genuine smile. His voice was slightly high pitched, kind of like Seth's.

Hannah couldn't help but laugh as she piled Seth's arms even more full with clothes. "I've had it up to here with this crap!" Seth complained. Hannah couldn't help but toss one of her heavy coats over his head. "That's it!" Seth said dropping everything.

Hannah screamed as she took off down the hall towards the gym with Seth hot on her heels.

------

Dwayne stared down the hall where Hannah and Seth had disappeared around the bend. He could no longer see them but Hannah's screams still echoed back to himself and Andy. He wanted to go after her, but he wasn't going to leave Andy in charge of Hannah's open locker and all of there backpacks scattered across the hall.

He looked over at Andy who was surveying him. He felt very uncomfortable. It's not that he didn't like Andy, he just wasn't friends with him.

"Did you hear about what happened to Pluto? Shit isn't it." Andy said. Dwayne looked at him for a long moment before they both burst into laughter. "Sorry, that's my conversation icebreaker. Use it all the time." Again, they just stared at each other. Andy folded his arms and looked at his sneakers. "I don't mean to pry, but I just want to know, you know for future reference, you're the kid who doesn't talk. Am I right?" Dwayne pulled out his notepad but before he found his pen Andy talked again. "That's enough answer for me."

Hannah's scream broke the silence in the hall as she came at them from the opposite way she had left. Apparently she had run in a big circle. She jumped over all the stuff Seth had dropped on the floor and landed in Dwayne's arms. Just then Seth came around the bend, barely stumbling along. Hannah let out a panted screech as she hid behind Dwayne and climbed in her now emptied locker. She then proceeded to try and convince Dwayne to shut her inside as Seth collapsed face down on the floor.

_Did you seriously run all that way?_

Dwayne wrote thinking about the distance.

"Yep, I'm fast when I'm scared. Ow!" Hannah said pulling herself out of the very narrow locker and holding her boob which got scraped on her way out. Apparently she didn't care there were three overly hormonal teenaged boys watching her. "Don't look at me like that."

_I didn't say anything._

"You might as well start digging a hole, I think I'm dying." Seth said to the filthy tile floor.

"As long as you promise me your X-Box." Andy said trying to help Seth up.

"No, it hurts." Seth said only rolling onto his back and letting skinny Andy drag him across the floor. "I'm not a floor buffer, stop it!" Seth said pulling away from him and getting up.

Hannah ignored them as she carried an arm full of papers towards the nearest waste bin. Dwayne was busy helping her pack the gym bag she brought with coats and shirts. It was king of difficult when she already had all her school things in it too.

"Stop it you fat whore!" Seth randomly yelled at Andy who was doing anything he could to piss Seth off. Which was mostly invading his personal space, by poking and prodding him. Hannah only looked over when Andy was hugging an unwilling Seth. "Get off me."

"Aww, poor Seth." Hannah said and then continued to ignore him.

-----

It wasn't but ten minutes later they were trudging threw the latest snow layer on the sidewalk towards Seth's house. Hannah was wrapped up in the three coats she couldn't fit in her bag and looked like she was ready for a rescue mission in the Artic. She held Dwayne's hand and leaned into him as they followed Seth and Andy who were completely involved in some stupid conversation that Hannah was only half paying attention to.

"But what are we going to do… when we get to your house?" Andy asked for the millionth time.

"Stare at the wall, watch the snow melt, quit asking me!" Seth said.

"Fine, you do what you want but I'm playing video games."

"Let's play Halo."

"Fuck No! No Halo. I hate Halo."

"No one hates Halo. That's like hating air."

"I hate it. You know when Halo three comes out I'm buying it just so I can microwave it. Did you know there are seriously no T-shirt's out there that hate Halo? You should know, I have looked. Do you have Bio Shock at your house? God that the best game in the world. I'm seriously giving myself carpel tunnel from playing that all last weekend. Do you have it?"

"Nope."

"Damn it! I'm going to murder you, and bury you in my back yard and then dig you up and murder you again. Would you mind terribly if I fed you to the sharks?"

"I don't know. It all depends on the seasonings you use. No oregano. It makes me sneeze. But hey, I do have some Star Wars games."

"They suck. But have you heard of the new one that's coming out? You can pick up buildings with your mind. In the old one it's only picking up a rock as big as you are. Like, woo this is real fun compared to picking up the Empire State Building…. With your mind…" Andy said widening his eyes making himself look like a bug which make Hannah snicker.

"I've got some Zelda games."

"That's pretty cool. But I've seriously got to give you a serious wag of the finger at my gaming options." Andy said proceeding to wag his finger in front of Seth's face.

"Keep doing that and I'll break it."

Andy wagged his finger even more vigorously at Seth who tried to grab it and missed. Before they knew it Andy had taken off down the sidewalk and was now at least 10 feet away.

"Try and break it now, fatty." Andy said flipping Seth off and then proceeded to lick his middle finger, taunting Seth.

"That's it a-hole." Seth said running after him. Andy ran only a few feet before jumping the gate to someone's yard and running into this person's house. Even odder is that Seth followed suit.

"What the hell do they think there doing?" Hannah asked Dwayne, leaning over the fence trying to peer into the house threw the door they had left wide open. They could hear Andy's yells from the sidewalk.

Dwayne's response was opening the fence they had both jumped over and motioning her to go into the yard. "It's Seth's house?" Hannah asked in disbelief. Dwayne nodded.

_Did you really think they were running into some stranger's house? I think your hair colors really blond._

"Shut up." Hannah said pinching his cheek. He scowled at her.

Seth's house was white and narrow with a second story. There was a small porch that was only attached to the front of the house. As Dwayne and Hannah walked up the front steps they heard Andy's yells from inside, "It burns!" Which was proceeded by a crashing noise.

The inside of the house was dark because no lights were on. So it was hard to see what was going on when you came into darkness from being blinded outside. The front room was a living room with a couch against the left wall and a large entertainment center on the front wall in the right corner. There was a coffee table in the middle of the room and a chair and table here and there. Pictures lined the wall behind the couch and potted plants were here and there. A kitchen was visible just beyond the living room and a hallway went off to the left.

But Hannah didn't care to take in the room, she was far to busy staring at Andy who was lying on the couch gripping his butt. His boxers, which had already been visible earlier, seemed yanked up even further in the back. Apparently Seth had given his a wedgie.

"I think my anus is bleeding." Andy said and then pretended to sob.

The lights were on in the kitchen and Seth was making some kind of food, completely ignoring Andy's fake cries of pain.

"Sethefer, your such a liar!" Hannah said dropping her bag by the door and heading to the kitchen. Andrew had stopped begging for attention since he realized he wasn't getting any sympathy form the only female present. "You said you didn't have any food!" Hannah said watching Seth make a ham sandwich.

"Well all we do have is bread, cheese and ham. Do you want any, you can only have one of the three, so choose wisely."

"But your having two," Seth added cheese to his sandwich, "Three!"

"My house. My rules."

Hannah ignored him and opened the fridge door. The only thing in there was a package of pre sliced ham, Kraft cheese, and grape soda. Seth wasn't kidding.

"Toss me a soda." Andy said as he stumbled into the kitchen pushing his boxers back into his pants. Hannah tossed one to him and pulled one out for herself.

"Dwayne do you want a soda?" Hannah called to Dwayne shaking her can at him. He was still in the living room and he was flipping threw CD's. He nodded at her as he picked one up and then put it in the CD player that was next to the TV.

Hannah set Dwayne's soda on the kitchen table next to where Seth had sat down. She then opened the freezer and found something amazing.

"Sethefer, you have popsicles. How come you didn't tell me?" Hannah said grabbing a blue one and bouncing up and down happily.

"Are you serious?" Andy asked coming to her side and taking a yellow one for himself. Hannah danced in a little circle as Blondie blared from the living room speakers and Dwayne moseyed into the kitchen and opened the fridge. "I have an inquiry? What's Sethefer mean?"

"It's Seth's nick name. We all have them." Hannah said not stopping her dancing as she sucked on her Popsicle.

"Yeah, I'm Sethefer, Hannah's Sweets and Dwayne's Dwayne-o, which he hates." Seth said smiling over at Dwayne with a large chuck of cheese purposefully stuck in his teeth.

"I need a nick name, what's mine?"

"How about Andrew Krass is an ass." Seth said.

"Shut up."

"How about," Hannah said spinning around in a circle, "Andykinns. It's cute. It's hip. It would look great on a T-shirt." Hannah finally started to slow and realized that spinning wasn't such a good idea. Dwayne caught her as she began to teeter. "Thank you." Hannah said kissing him as he helped her to a kitchen chair. Andy looked at them with the slightest hint of jealousy in his eyes as he maliciously bit the top off his Popsicle. No one noticed it except Dwayne, who let it go. Because who was he to start anything because no one else seemed to notice.

"Andykinns sounds like the kind of pet name you give your kid." Andy protested.

"So, I think it's cute. Fine, how about… Andilin?"

"It kind of sounds like Aladdin. I don't know, I'll think about it. Seth!"

"What?" Seth answered with a mouth full of bread.

Hannah just noticed that Dwayne had taken a piece of ham and cheese and had rolled it together and was about to eat it. "Don't eat that, it's gross." Hannah commented before Dwayne put it all in his mouth and then proceeded to try and kiss her with his mouth full. Hannah squealed in disgust.

"Where's your brother at?" Andy asked Seth trying hard to ignore Hannah and Dwayne.

"He's at one of his friends for the day and Dads at work, so I've got the house until 8!"

"Sweet, but I've got to be home by 6." Hannah said

_I've got to walk her home._

"You have a brother, you've never mentioned him." Hannah said surprised.

"Haven't I? Well, HUNTER is six and a devil in disguise. Seriously he ate the last Twinkie the other day. That's messed up."

"Why do you say HUNTER," Hannah said stressing the word the way Seth had, "why can't you just say Hunter?"

"Because it's HUNTER. You've got to stress it. HUNTER!" Seth said throwing his arms in the arm dramatically making Hannah laugh.

_To Be Continued…_


	27. The Stupidity of Teenagers Part 2

**Author's Note: Sorry I had to abruptly end the last chapter but here is the second part. I hope it's up to your standards. ****Please review. ****Enjoy!**

_We now rejoin our Heroes at Seth's house._

"Dude, I want my skateboard back. I need a way to get to work. I'm tired of huffing it." Andy mentioned.

"You've got a job?" Hannah asked.

"He's got two." Seth said belching as he finished his sandwich.

"Not really. I wash down tables at Joe's pizza. Other than that I'm a musician."

"Musician, that's cool. But I just want to say every time I hear someone saying they wash down tables it makes me pitcher you dragging tables out back and hosing them down." Hannah said laughing.

"That's amazing." Andy said laughing with the rest of them but then abruptly stopped. "Dude, my skateboard!" Andy said pounding the table, "I'm not letting you forget!"

"Fine." Seth said leaving the table and stalking off to a back room.

"I'm going to get my donuts." Hannah said tossing her Popsicle stick in a trash basket.

"There are donuts! Why did no one tell me this?" Andy said excitedly.

"Because there mine not yours." Hannah said digging threw her bag on the living room floor.

"You be that way!"

"I will!" Hannah said pulling out the box of donuts and eating one of the donut holes dramatically in front of Andy as she walked into the kitchen.

Andy yanked back on the pull tab to his soda and then chugged half the can. "Mmmm… grape soda." Andy said in a loving voice with his eyes half closed, rubbing his belly. Hannah giggled until a loud thumb upstairs make her jump. Apparently Seth had gone upstairs from a staircase at the back of the house.

She then heard a rumble of footsteps and then she heard Seth yell from the back of the house. "Dwayne or Hannah… Can one of you guys check under the porch for the skateboard? Much appreciated. Thanks." Again there was a rumble of footsteps as Seth went back upstairs.

"I'll do it." Hannah said as Dwayne went to get up. The front door was still wide open and Hannah trotted down the front steps and saw a large gap in the mesh that covered the underneath side of the porch that was right next to the steps. She looked at it but all she could see was an old sled and what looked like tarp. "Shit," Hannah said as she fell backwards into the snow.

When she got up she realized Andy was on the porch, still sipping at his grape soda, just staring at her, as if unsure about what to say. She just smiled at him, but he didn't smile back.

"I'm ashamed of you." Andy said with a straight face.

"What?"

"I'm ashamed of you." Andy said again, only with more emphasis.

"What did I do?" Hannah asked kind of worried.

"I don't know. But I'm still ashamed of you." Andy said finally breaking a smile, letting Hannah know that he was just joking.

"Shut up." Hannah said playfully pushing him as she passed.

"Now I'm really ashamed of you."

-----

It was at least a half hour later when Andy paused Grand Theft Auto when Seth accidentally tossed a book at him. You see, Seth still hadn't found the skateboard and now he was panicking.

_I was playing that._

"Tough shit." Andy said picking up a donut and going into the kitchen to help Seth who was now tossing pans across the linoleum. You see, Andy talked Hannah into sharing after singing that old Barney sharing song loud and long enough to wear down her nerves.

Hannah had been watching the boys play, because she had no idea what to do. They were trying to teach her as she laid against Dwayne's arm, observing.

Hannah crawled into Dwayne's lap and kissed him tenderly before snuggling into his chest. It was moments like these, as Hannah tickled his chin and he kissed her finger tips, that he knew that she really loved him.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Seth yelled as he came into the living room and threw open the closet door that was next to the couch.

"Seth do you really need to swear?" Hannah asked craning her neck to look over at him. Andy meandered back into the living room and slumped into a chair across from Hannah and Dwayne. He cracked open another soda he had gotten from the fridge.

"You know what," Seth said stopping his search for the first time since he started and looked at Hannah, "Giant Donkey Balls." Seth immediately went back to tossing things out of the closet.

"Seth, you should seriously come with your own warning label. Seth: rated M for Mature." Hannah said giggling.

"Ahahahah!" Seth said rolling Andy's skateboard to him. "Found it fucker! How about them apples?" Seth knelt putting things back into the closet when he yelled out a cry of surprise again.

"Did you find Atlantis?" Andy asked.

"My god, it's my old English text book." Seth said thumbing threw it as he stood. "They made me pay for this bastard because I couldn't find it."

"Maybe they'll give you your money back since you found it." Hannah mentioned even though she was hardly listening. She was playing with Dwayne again tweaking his nose and kissing his cheek over and over again.

Seth laughed at Hannah's comment. "Are we talking about the same greedy bastards? They'd probably take the book and keep my money. I have better plans for this 53 dollar text book."

Hannah wasn't listening any more because Dwayne was kissing her neck, making it tickle so she was laughing and trying to push him away. They only pulled away from each other when Seth announced that he was setting his book on fire, and flew out the front door with Andy hot on his hells chanting, 'Burn it! Burn it!'

The two scurried after them and made it to the porch to find that Seth had tossed his book on the ground at the bottom of the steps and was fumbling with a pack of matches.

"What do you think your doing?" Hannah asked, really not wanting to go home tonight and when telling about her day, have to explain why Seth's house burnt down.

"Setting this bastard ablaze!" Seth said lighting a match. "This," Seth said holding the match out, "is the eternal flame of all kids who have ever hated English class. Your pain has been felt." Seth then let the match fall. It landed in the middle of the book that was lying open.

At first Hannah thought the match was going to go out, but then the waxy pages started burning. It was a lovely sight. To see something that somewhat symbolized everything they hated about high school, smoldering under one match. Dwayne stood beside her and then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in front of him. She leaned her head back against Dwayne's chest as she watched the flames grow, pages burning and charring.

"Do you think we should say something?" Andy asked.

"Here's to last years English class. You were there Dwayne. Romeo & Juliet, The Odyssey, and crappy poetry. Eat my shorts." Seth said.

"Here, here! Har, har!" Andy said.

"I love matches." Seth said striking another and watching it burn down before flicking it into the snow, where it sizzled.

"Seth, I dare you to light all the matches on fire." Hannah said giggling.

"I'll do it!" Seth said pulling the third match for the pack.

_Don't encourage him._

But it was too late. Seth held the lit match to one on the end and in one second they all were ablaze, along with the cardboard holder. Seth watched it burn for a moment until the flames started to lick at his fingers, and then he discarded it in the snow too.

----

"Can't you guys talk about anything besides video games, food and sex?" Hannah said loudly after enduring a half hour on the porch of mindless stories and arguments.

"Is there anything else besides food, video games and fornication?" Andy asked grabbing the box of donuts away from Seth.

"Hey, give it back or I'll punch you in the kidneys." Seth said punching him on the arm.

"My dad punched me in the kidneys the other day, because I threw a wrench at him. It was amazing." Andy said flicking Seth on the ear.

"You guys are impossible." Hannah said pulling off her shoes, for no apparent reason.

"My spoon is too big. My SPOON is too BIG!" Andy randomly said in a high pitched voice. All the guys laughed and Hannah looked at them blankly.

_It's a cartoon on the internet. You have to watch it to get it._

"I am a banana!" Seth yelled and they all laughed again.

"You know what I'm going to be?" Andy said.

"What?" Seth asked.

"A porn star."

"Hey, me too."

"Yeah, sell your body for Twinkies. Livin' the life." Andy said lounging back.

"You guys are stupid." Hannah said.

"Your stupid." Andy said back.

"I hate you! And I'm disappointed in you."

"Good! You're a failure!"

"Great, now give me back my donuts."

"Fine, I don't want your smelly donuts." Andy said throwing the box at her.

"It's empty! You ate all my donuts, you Twinkie face!"

"Twinkie Face! That's it!" Andy said getting up, but Hannah was faster and was already off the porch and started running towards the back.

Andy dashed across the length of the porch and jumped the railing landing in the yard before her. She screeched even louder and quickly turned the other way. Dwayne and Seth were now standing in the yard observing Hannah's failing attempts at getting away.

"Dwayne! Help me!" Hannah said jumping into her boyfriends open arms.

"That's cheating!" Andy said stopping in front of Dwayne.

"A boyfriend is the best form of protection in the world." Hannah said hugging Dwayne and sticking her tongue out at Andy from over Dwayne's shoulder as Andy walked back towards the house.

"Group hug!" Seth said throwing his arms around Hannah and Dwayne. Hannah squeaked. "You two are SO cute together! Ahh, I'm so going to be the best man at your wedding."

"No!" Hannah shouted and she knew Dwayne was screaming the same in his head as he shook his head. "You'll be lucky if I let you watch my wedding threw a window, duck taped to a chair outside."

"That's really impolite to treat the matchmaker this way."

"Your not the matchmaker. We got together without your help."

"I highly doubt it." Seth said walking back up towards the porch.

_Do you want to leave?_

"No, we can stay. How often do you get to make such marvelous new friends?" Hannah said kissing him. "Besides I'm coming over on Saturday. And you had better get me a nice Christmas present or I will never forgive you."

Hannah and Dwayne went back in the house and found Andy sitting on top of a large floor speaker and Seth talking to him.

"And there will be black rose peddles lining the aisle. No flower girls, this is an adult themed function." Seth was saying.

"And there will be fountains filled with red wine. So you can fill up your glass whenever you want to." Andy said.

"What are you guy's talking about?" Hannah asked as they approached.

"Were just planning your wedding." Seth answered. "Since I can't come to the wedding I'll be the wedding planner. Your wedding dress will be blood red and poofy. Very beautiful. I'll design it myself if I have to. And you'll walk down the aisle to Tenacious D's Fuck Her Gently."

Dwayne couldn't help but giggle but Hannah was outraged. "No! No! NO! You never getting anywhere near my wedding. Dwayne, make then stop."

"Hey, Hannah. Have you gotten Dwayne pregnant yet?" Andy asked. It took Hannah a while to get what Andy had said. Then she laughed, and all the tension was gone.

"Yeah," Hannah said rubbing Dwayne's belly. "Were going to have triplets, and there going to come out with mustaches, like in the Adams family."

_And fully clothed. Hey, I want a dollar a month for child support._

"No way. How about a quarter."

_For three kids?_

"Man, Hannah's a bad daddy." Andy said.

"No I'm not. I'll give you a dollar, for the whole year." Hannah said laughing.

_I'm not talking to you._ Dwayne wrote turning his back on her. _I'm going to Canada and I'm taking our kids with me._

"You had better not. I'll sue off your silent ass. There my babies." Hannah said hugging Dwayne from behind.

"There they go again." Andy said as Dwayne pulled Hannah to him and they started kissing.

-----

Dwayne was now holding Hannah's hand as he walked her home. They had left Seth and Andy in the midst of a heated videogame battle.

_So did you have a nice time?_

"Yes, it was fun. But I think I'm forever mentally scared." Hannah was referring to a half hour before they left, when Seth dared Andy to make a snow angle in the nude. Andy only willingly obliged after Seth gave him ten dollars and half a grilled cheese sandwich.

_You didn't see anything, you face was buried in my shirt the whole time, squealing._

"Yes, but I did see him shirtless when he came back in, frozen like a Popsicle and swearing like a sailor. My virgin eyes. The only bratwurst I ever want to see is yours."

_You want to see my 'bratwurst'?_

Dwayne wrote laughing at her language.

"Maybe…" She said hiding her face in her knitted hands.

_Awww…_

"Leave me alone. Give me my bag. I'm going to walk home by myself." Hannah said yanking on her duffle bag that he carried. He held it away from her.

_No, come here._ Dwayne wrote grabbing both of her hands and waiting until she looked at him. _I love you._ Then he kissed her. _You're so cute when you blush._

"I hate you."

Dwayne laughed clutching her hand.


	28. Champagne Supernova in the Sky

**Author's Note: Sorry it's taken me so long to update again. Thanks for being patient with me. I'll try my hardest not to let so much time pass before the next one. As always, Enjoy!**

Dwayne kept glancing up at the clock in the living room as he watched TV with Olive. It was Christmas Eve and in just a few more minutes Hannah would be here, and he couldn't wait. Why? Well, other than the obvious reasons, Sheryl and Richard were taking Olive to the movies for one of her early Christmas presents and also to visit Olive's grandfather at Sunset Manor and they were leaving Hannah and himself home alone for his early Christmas present.

He could hardly believe it. They actually trusted him. Well, Sheryl did, and she talked Richard into it. But this leniency wasn't for free. He had to endure about a half hour of Sheryl talking around what she really wanted to tell he should not do, ever, if she had her way. Or at least until she was old and lonely enough to want grandkids.

Like he really cared. He knew what he would and wouldn't do, at least for right now. Or at least that was his mindset before she walked into the house.

He jumped off the couch before the doorbell barely stopped singing its first note. There his perfect dream stood in bushy dark green skirt that billowed just above her knees. She wore light brown knee high socks and a long sleeve brown shirt that had a strange pattern running down one side. She was utterly beautiful to him.

He hugged her as she walked in the door. "I'm glad to see you too, Dwayne."

"What's in the bags?" Olive asked appearing next to Dwayne out of thin air. Dwayne looked over Hannah again and noticed she indeed was carrying two colorful bags that he had neglected to notice earlier.

"Presents," Hannah said handing the smaller bag she carried to Olive. "Merry Christmas."

Olive didn't waste any time in opening her present. The tissue paper and bag were on the floor before Dwayne realized Olive had even taken hold of it. Then Olivia let out a high pitched screeched as she hugged the small rag doll that was inside. "I love it! I love it! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Your quite welcome." Hannah answered, although Dwayne was pretty sure that Olive didn't hear her as she was dancing around the living room.

"What is all the noise about?" Sheryl asked coming out of the kitchen.

"Hannah's here. Look what she brought me!" Olive said immediately bouncing towards her mother and holding out the rag doll.

"That's wonderful." Sheryl said looking at the doll in Olives hands. "Hi Hannah. We'll be leaving here soon. You and Dwayne can go about your business. Merry Christmas!" Sheryl yelled after her because Dwayne was already dragging her down the hall to his room.

"Merry Christmas!" Hannah yelled back as Olive started singing the theme song to some cartoon obnoxiously loud, which was lost once Dwayne shut his bedroom door.

"Where are your parents going Dw…" Hannah's question was interrupted when Dwayne kissed her. She dropped her bag on the floor and wrapped her arms around him as he deepened the kiss. "I missed you too Dwayne." Hannah said when Dwayne released her lips. Dwayne smiled cockily at her as he pulled out his note pad. Hannah sat down on his bed, pulling her bag towards herself as Dwayne wrote feverishly.

_Sheryl and Richard are taking Olive to see her grandfather and to also see a movie. Meanwhile I get to stay here and charm the love of my life. Aren't I so lucky? I'm surprised they trust me though. P.S. I love you._

"Now I feel bad. I'm keeping you from an outing with your family." Hannah pouted.

_Have you seen those freaks? I'd much rather be here, with you. Besides, he's not even my grandfather._

"Why are you surprised they've leaving us home alone. We've been alone before at my house." Dwayne put his hand over her mouth as he sat down on the bed beside her.

_Shh! They don't know that._

"So, is big bad Dwayne going to take advantage of little old me while the parents are gone?"

_Maybe_

Dwayne wrote smirking.

"Your so bad."

_So what did you bring me?_

"Lumps of coal."

_Now I'm disappointed. I wanted lumps of graphite._

Hannah pushed him gently on the arm as she laughed. They were interrupted when a knock came on the door.

"Dwayne, were leaving now. Come say goodbye." Sheryl's voice drifted threw the wooden door. Dwayne reluctantly got up and opened the door. "Now have fun you two." Sheryl said once the door was opened. "Remember what we talked about." Dwayne nodded looking back at Hannah who was getting into his coin jar in which she had stashed a few suckers. She had such a sweet tooth. "Don't forget. Now Richards cell number is on the fridge if you need us. It will be on the whole time. If you want, you can order pizza. Don't prank call anyone. Don't go outside. No inviting anyone else over… and"

_Mom, don't you need to be somewhere?_

"Alright honey. Bye. Bye Hannah. Have fun!" Sheryl said pulling her son to herself and kissing his forehead before leaving, shutting his door behind herself.

"Come here honey." Hannah said teasing him putting the blue sucker into her mouth.

Dwayne stalked towards her making her cower before he grabbed her gift sack off the floor and looked inside.

"Heeeyha!" Hannah said threw a slurp as she tried to keep the hard candy in her mouth. Hannah grabbed the bag from him and sat back down on the bed taking the sucker out of her mouth. "Who said this was for you?"

_I did._

He wrote sitting down next to her kissing her cheek. She pressed her wet sucker against his cheek. "Sugar kisses!" Dwayne wiped at his sticky cheek as he took a wild grab for the sucker. Hannah let out a scream as she turned sideways, laying herself down the bed. God, he hoped Sheryl was gone by now. He started crawling over her as she held the sucker away from him. "Stop!" Hannah finally yelled exasperated. He had never heard her sound like that when they were just playing, so he immediately pulled away. "I got bed fuzz on my sucker!" Hannah complained loudly pouting.

_Let me fix it._

Dwayne wrote holding out his hand. Hannah took his hand and he led her to the bathroom. After much pouting on his behalf, Hannah surrendered her sucker and he washed it off. When he had finished, Hannah clapped and took her sucker back from him, kissing his cheek. Then she licked the same spot. When she pulled back he raised his eyebrow at her.

"You taste like blueberries."

_I wonder why?_

Hannah giggled and pressed her sucker against his lips. "Mwah." Dwayne pushed her hand away and kissed her. Then he took her hands and led her back towards his bedroom.

"Present Time!" Hannah sang plopping down on the bed as Dwayne picked his present off the floor. "You first." Dwayne pouted at her but she refused, so he flung the tissue paper out of the bag and looked inside. There were two books about aviation, a booklet to hold CDs, and a novel he had never heard of.

"I thought you could use something else to read besides that thinky book you've always got your nose glued to."

_You mean Nietzsche? Did you even every finish it?_

Hannah started giggling madly and he reached out for her and pulled her into his lap as he pretended like he was going to tickle her.

_I love you, madly, I do._

He wrote and then kissed his queen.

_Your turn_

"Yippy!" Hannah said slurping her sucker again. Dwayne got off his bed and went to his desk where he pulled out the brown box he kept his things for her in. He handed the box to her and then resumed his place next to her on the bed.

_Sorry I didn't wrap it. Sheryl used all the wrapping paper._

"That's okay. It really is just a waste anyway." Hannah said opening the box. The first thing she pulled out was the large fluffy purple teddy bear. "Aw, look at him. He's so cute." Hannah said hugging the bear. Next she pulled out an Oasis CD.

_You told me you liked them._

"I do. Thank you." She said kissing him on the cheek.

_Hey, your not done yet._

He wrote handing her the small slender box that was at the bottom of the big box. "Ohhh, what's this?" She asked popping open the box. She gave a little gasp as she saw the nice red and white jeweled bracelet inside. "Oh, Dwayne, it's gorgeous. You shouldn't have." She said as Dwayne helped her take it out of the box and clasp it around her wrist.

_I wanted to. Just a little reminder to you that even if you don't think so, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever know and you mean the world to me._

"Aww…" Hannah sighed before kissing him passionately. It was a kiss they had never shared before and if it meant he could attain another one, he would buy her jewelry every day. But alas, she would never allow that. So he guessed he had to wait until her birthday to spoil her again.

_But I'm not even done yet, just one more present._

"But you've given me plenty already. What did I do to deserve you?"

_Just being yourself. But you might have to wait a minute until I find it. I got it yesterday when I was out with Sheryl when she was doing last minute shopping. So I didn't put it in the correct spot and now it's lost._

"Did your belly button eat it?" Hannah asked crunching the last of her sucker and tossing the stick in the trash.

_I don't think so._

Dwayne wrote laughing. "Yeah it did. Belly button monster." Hannah said rubbing his belly and then pushing him down on the bed as she began to tickle him. He guessed he deserved this after all the times he ganged up on her and tickled her until she cried. It was so hard not to laugh out loud. At least it was hard before she pushed up his shirt and started blowing raspberries on his stomach. Then it was unbearable. He had to clasp his hand over his mouth to fight it back. He eventfully pushed her away and got back to his searching.

Ten minutes later he found the little box under his bed and then another five to get her to open it. But she loved the ring made out of jeweled flowers in the end so the struggle was worth it.

"Dwayne you're the sweetest boy ever. I love you." Hannah said kissing him again. "You shouldn't have, but your amazing."

_I try_

"If I didn't love you, I'd smack you."

_Good thing._

"Can I listen to this?" Hannah asked holding up her new CD.

_I guess I can adjust my ears for a few songs._

"I always forget you don't like them. I don't see why, there really great. Deep thinkers. I should think you would like that, Nietzsche."

_They did drugs, and it is very relevant if you listen to the lyrics. I have heard there music and none of it makes since._

"I guess you need to broaden your mind." Hannah said ripping the cellophane off the case and after much peeling at the sticky security tape, got the case opened. "If it doesn't make since, then you know its deep thinking. I don't understand Nietzsche, and he's deep thinking. Besides, music lyrics in general don't make any since."

Hannah inserted the CD in his stereo and then perused the track list on the back of the CD and then skipped to track 17.

She threw herself down on his bed, her hair making a halo around her head. She curled her legs up to herself singing softly along with Oasis. "_How many special people change? How many lives are living strange? Where were you while we were getting high?_ You know, I think this is the perfect song for Seth. He's such a stoner." Hannah said absentmindedly and then starting to sing again.

_Hannah. Can I ask you something?_

Dwayne wrote feeling his inner demons coming to get him. "What is it lover boy?" Hannah asked picking at the bow around her bears neck. Dwayne couldn't contain his doubts any longer, he had to know.

_Well, it's not quite a question… it's, I'm a bit jealous._

"Who could you possibly be jealous of? Is it Rigelian? I know, he is awful cute." Hannah said to her bear.

_Are you talking about that, never mind, listen. I'm just worried… I can't talk to you properly, and I'm worried that it's something you need that I can't give you._

"You know that doesn't bother me. Not one bit. I love you for who you are and not who I want you to be. And whenever you start talking again, it's not going to change a thing. Trust that." Hannah said sitting up and leaning against his arm.

_I know that, but, every time you laugh at something Seth says, I always yearn to make you smile that way. Every time you sing, I want to sing with you. And to know I can't kills me. It's worth breaking my vow, for you I would do anything._

"I never want you to do that for me. Is this about Seth? Your jealous of Seth!" Hannah started laughing.

_It's not funny._

"It is. You think you're going to loose me to Seth?" Dwayne looked away and bit his lip. "You'll never loose me. Especially not to Seth. He is dirty gross and ugly, no offence to Seth."

_I don't think he would care._

Hannah kissed his cheek and held him close. "I just feel so bad. I want you to feel secure and loved. Nothing can stop me loving you."

_Don't you ever wonder though?_

"Sometimes I daydream about what your voice sounds like. But it doesn't really matter, as long as you don't have one of those high pitched annoying voices."

_Last time I checked I didn't._

"Well that's good." Hannah said kissing him. They laid back on the bed and held each other, kissing each other lightly. Eventually Hannah demanded he make her dinner, otherwise, she said the village in her stomach would eat her.

She wasn't kidding either. While Dwayne was rolling out the dough for the pizza they were making he could hear her stomach rumbling loudly. Hannah giggled as she shredded the cheese and secretly ate half of it.

When they were done they sat in front in front of the TV and ate while watching Merry Poppins. At first Dwayne refused to watch it, and then Dwayne gave in after trying to listen to A Christmas Carol over Hannah screeching Chim Chim Cher-Ee in his ear.

After the dishes were done they went back to his bedroom. Dwayne started kissing her but Hannah squirmed away covering her face. She was being difficult. So be it. He grabbed the bear he had given her and he held it behind his back.

"What are you doing?"

_You won't get him back until I get a kiss._

Dwayne wrote pursing his lips. Hannah tried at fist to go around him but eventually found that that wasn't going to work. So Hannah gave him a quick peck on the lips.

_I mean a real kiss._

"You never specified what kind of kiss you wanted, so hand over Rigelian."

_My game, my rules._

"I don't think so. It's go time mister." Hannah said in a little girl voice. Dwayne pushed her down on the bed and began to tickle her. "No! Stop! I surrender!" Dwayne didn't stop immediately, but eventually the play turned into kissing and kissing turned into touching. It didn't go much further because Hannah wasn't ready, and neither was Dwayne. Besides Dwayne had made a promise and Hannah didn't want him to break it. At least not immediately.

A few hours later Hannah left and Dwayne was alone. Christmas came and went and all Dwayne had to look forward to was that first day back to school.


	29. Mona Lisa

**Authors Note:** Aloha!

"What the hell died on your face?" Seth asked Andy, who was now supporting a dark moustache.

It was the first day back to school and Dwayne couldn't be happier. Mostly because the first bell of the day hadn't rung yet. Hannah wasn't there yet. She had called Dwayne the day before and told him her parents were officially getting a divorce and that her Dad would be dropping her off at school from now until he moved back to where they had moved from. Dwayne still couldn't pronounce the name.

"It's a stash, Jack." Andy replied. "I think it makes me look distinguished." Andy said leaning against the cafeteria doors. It was a tradition to hang out here in the hallway outside of the cafeteria before school. They always had like fifteen minutes to burn, why not waste it playing hacky sack and trying to drag the girls into the boys bathroom after they stole there bags and hid them into the girls restroom.

"I think it makes you look like an immigrant." Seth said. Dwayne started to laugh as Seth tried to feel it and Andy kept slapping away his hand.

"Don't touch me!"

Dwayne chuckled as Seth began wrestling Andy to the ground. He was so entertained that he didn't see Hannah sneaking up behind him. She threw her arms around his shoulders and gave him a big squeeze, taking him off guard.

"Guess who?" Hannah giggled into his ear.

Dwayne wasted no time in writing a response and instead just pulled her around to his front and kissed her passionately. She kissed him back with more vigor and tousled his hair with her fingers. Dwayne pulled her closer to him as there tongues danced together.

"Get a room." Andy said getting off the floor, because the scuffle was now over.

Dwayne and Hannah pulled away from each other, but only with a few soft lingering kisses as they parted.

"So let me see your classes." Hannah said holding out her hand expectantly for his class list that they all received in the mail about three days ago for the kids who don't live in the country. For them it was about, yesterday?

Dwayne unfolded the little yellow piece of paper and handed it to her.

"Let's see, first you have Conditioning. Boo, I have Geometry. Next, no. Next, no. Yay! We have Spanish 1 together. As much as I'm excited to have a class with you I still don't want to take Spanish. Next, we both have English with Porter. Sweet! Then, Crap doodles, nothing. I'm so sad." Hannah said throwing herself into Dwayne's arms. Dwayne pouted a bit and stroked her hair. Hannah looked up at him and he leaned down and gave her a small kiss.

"PDA!" Seth said loudly.

"Are you talking about me?" Amanda asked walking in from the bus parking lot. "Amanda Panda." Amanda ran to Seth and gave him a big hug.

"No, It's A Man, Duh!" Andy said.

"Shut up before I rip that leach off your face."

"Ahhh!!! She's a man!" Andy pointed and yelled. "OW!" Andy yelled as Amanda started smacking him around, Seth laughing from the sidelines.

"I think its time to take our leave." Hannah said looking up at Dwayne who didn't complain but followed her only too willingly.

"My kidney!" They heard Andy yell as they walked away.

"My oh my, what company we take." Dwayne nodded as he held her hand. "Did you get anything lovely for Christmas?"

_Besides you, nothing of importance._

"You're a sweetie."

-----

3 periods later it was time for Spanish, and what sucks even more about uno dos tres is that they had to do it on an empty stomach. They now had C lunch and a witch of a teacher. But they didn't know this yet. Well, they probably knew that they had C lunch, but defiantly not that she's wicked. Defiantly not.

_Have you guys heard that anything about Mrs. Hessburg? _

"Just that's she's a super bitch." Andy said crossing his fingers in odd ways to show off his double jointed-ness.

- Of course I could be wrong…

"I've heard that too." Hannah said writing down previous classes homework assignments in her planner.

Hannah, Dwayne and Andy were sitting to the back of the Spanish room unenthusiastically waiting for class to begin. They already knew there would be a seating chart and they weren't looking forward to it.

"How are you kidneys doing?" Hannah asked closing her notebook.

"There okay, and its not kidneys anymore. They're called lasagna now." Andy replied.

"Quit talking about Amanda." Seth said taking a seat next to Andy.

"I wasn't talking about your man, duh, I was talking about what she did to me and my lasagna."

"I didn't know you had this class." Hannah said.

"I didn't earlier. I got it fixed last period. I had about five _See Councilor_ on my schedule. This was the only thing open this hour. Who wants to bet I can get kicked out of this class by the end of the week?"

"I'll take that bet." Andy said as the bell rang and Mrs. Hessburg entered the room talking to the class in Spanish as fast as she possibly could. Dwayne was sure it would translate as _'This is how the rest of the year will go, I will talk gibberish as fast as humanly possible and then berate you when you don't understand me. By the way, I have weighed grades and if you don't get a 100 on every test I give you, you will fail! You wouldn't last five minutes in Mexico. They would make tacos out of your pitiful flesh, you worthless little human worms. Don't tell anyone but I'm an Alien, and I'm here to harvest your organs. Mwahahahaha!!!'_ (End Dwayne's paranoid delusion here)

Apparently she had asked them a question because she had stopped talking and was now looking at them expectantly.

"Holy shit…" Seth said under his breath saying what the rest of the class was thinking.

-----

"I can't believe she wrote me up for that…" Seth said standing next to Hannah in the lunch line. Dwayne looked over his shoulder back at the two of them.

"You said that the assignment was fucking bullshit." Andy laughed from behind Seth.

"Under my breath. She must have bat ears."

"Actually you kind of screamed it." Hannah said taking a chocolate milk out of the pale of ice.

"Fuck off, did I? Did I?" Seth asked.

"You did, mate." Andy said patting him on the shoulder.

"I must be sick."

"What is this? It's all pink?" Andy asked holding up a milk.

"It's strawberry." Hannah said as the lunch lady rang up Dwayne's meal.

"Barf. That's disgusting."

"And the only one left. Ha." Hannah laughed as she stepped up to get rung up.

"Quick, trade me." Andy begged Seth.

"Get off."

Hannah shook her head as she followed Dwayne to an empty table. They were lucky there was one left. Or half of one as it were.

_Why ham sandwiches. This school has it out for me._

"Sorry love." Hannah said sitting down next to him and kissing his cheek.

_I hate ham._

"Here, eat this salad." Hannah said pushing the saran wrapped Styrofoam bowl in front of him.

_But it's a withered and dry and tastes like fertilizer._

"You mean…"

"Bull Shit!" Andy said throwing his food down onto the table. "Why did you have to tell her that Seth?"

"I couldn't help myself." Seth said sitting down.

"I hate you."

"I'm glad I have English next." Hannah said chowing down.

"You guys suck." Andy said.

"What's the matter?" Hannah asked.

"We all have English together next. He has it English too, different teacher." Seth said mockingly.

"I hate this school."

"Don't be down. Things have a way of turning themselves around." Hannah said. Andy said something reproachful and Seth cursed at him over his mashed potatoes. Hannah didn't pay attention though. Dwayne had been a bit too quiet for her liking so she gently rubbed his thigh until he looked at her. He smiled quaintly and then leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

During this brief moment apparently someone had yelled something at Seth, so now he was turned around listening to some kid three tables away. Hannah couldn't hear anything so she continued to eat as Dwayne looked at her in a way that should be illegal. It would have bothered her if it was anyone else, but her Dwayne could get away with anything.

"Apparently," Seth said turning back around, "I can't park my van here."

-----

Dwayne waited impatiently at the front of the school for his dear sweet love. They had planned to meet at his locker and they were going to walk home together. Finally he saw her far off in the crowd. He smiled to himself and looked down at the ground now that he knew she was coming. He let his heavy bag slide off his arm and land on the floor beside him as he leaned against the green metal doors of the tiny lockers.

When he looked up next Hannah was pushing her way threw the crowd to get to him and he couldn't help but laugh at her appearance.

_What happened to you?_

"What?" Hannah said looking at herself and turning around in a circle a few times. Hannah had all different colors of paint splattered all over herself and she had a red streak across her cheek and a blue green yellow splotch across her nose. Yellow paint marked her hair in lines here and there and her shoes were splotched with white droplets. "I'm Art, hehe."

_Come here my Mona Lisa._

Dwayne held his hands out to her and she took them. Dwayne felt the rough texture of dried paint and held up her hands to see that they were completely covered in green with large red splotches on the palms and other colors streaked here and there. He raised his eyebrow at her.

"Oh yeah. I was finger painting and then Seth ruined it so I hit him and got paint on him and then he got the paint bottle and started throwing some on me and then I got one too but I missed him and hit Andy and then it was a big paint war. It was fun, hehe."

_Who won?_

"Mrs. Ives. She was pretty mad at us when she saw us, but we didn't get any pain on the floor or the jacked up tables so she didn't write us up. But for the record I won because Seth's hair was caked in yellow paint. He had to go to the restroom and wash it out. We're bad kids."

_This wouldn't have happened if I was there. I would have protected you._

"Fo sure. Hehe."

_I'm so getting my class changed tomorrow._


	30. The way we are

_**Authors Note: I can't believe I've written 30 chapters. It's kind of exciting. Well, Enjoy!**_

_Monkey_

"Affe." Hannah replied as her and Dwayne walked together to there last class of the day, Art. Dwayne had gotten his schedule changed, by the third day of school actually. But that was far in the past. It was now the Friday of the second week of school, and the whole school was tired and at least of the people she knew, they were slap happy as well.

_That's German. Were practicing our Spanish here, can you at least try, for my sake since I don't get any of this._

"Oh, fine. Mono, are you happy."

_Indeed. Now, Came about._

"So, you want me to speak Spanish? Okay then; ¿Ha oído usted lo que vino acerca de entre nuestros amigos Seth y Amanda?"

_How do you learn this stuff so fast? Are you a robot?_

"No… I'm just smarter than you."

_No, I think you're a robot. That's why you're so pretty and funny and cute._

"Stop that. You're embarrassing me." Hannah said as they stopped outside the Art room. They always spent a few minutes outside the Art room together before they went to class. Just a little time alone without Seth making fun of them. Seth always got there early and by the time Andy got there they knew the bell was about to ring.

_So, what was that you said in Spanish? I know I heard Seth and Amanda's names. Or am I just hearing things now?_

"I asked you if you had heard what came about between Seth and Amanda. So, have you?" Hannah asked being very serious.

_You mean about them doing it over Winter Break? Yeah, Seth told me our first day back, with graphic details and everything. When did you find out? If you say today I'm going to laugh._

"No, it was last week. Wednesday actually. Why didn't you tell me?" She said smacking him on the arm.

_Well, I didn't find it that important to be quite honest. Seth always tells me about his sexual escapades and it's rather inconsequential, I think. I mean, it doesn't concern either of us so I didn't think to discuss it with you. Are you mad?_

"No." She said hugging him and laying her head against his chest. She was so lucky to have such a nice shy guy as her boyfriend. He would never lie to her, and she knew when he said he was a virgin that it was true. That was another thing she was glad about. She didn't know how Amanda could handle Seth being with all those other girls before her.

He didn't wrap his arms around her but she heard the scratching of his pen, so it was all good. When he was finally finished the notepad read;

_If this is all so important to you, why didn't you let me know about it sooner?_

"I just didn't know what you'd say, or what you'd want to do now."

_It's not a competition between us and them. I could care less what they do. And to let you know I am rather content with the way we are._

"I'm glad." She said hugging him even tighter. He nuzzled her neck before she pulled back away from him and he kissed her gently.

_But you know, I'm always willing to do 'other things.'_

Dwayne wrote wiggling his eyebrows at her provocatively.

"Don't do that. I hate it when you do that." Hannah said turning away from him. It always disturbed her when he did his little eyebrow trick. She didn't know why.

_Oh come on. You love me._

Dwayne wrote so she turned only to see him wiggling his eyebrows even more.

"Stop that or I'll shave them both off!" Hannah said running into the Art room with Dwayne hot on her tail. He caught her when they made it to there usual table, which was actually two tables pushed together long ways. Dwayne lifted her into the air just as the bell rang which helped mute her scream.

"Welcome wondrous woodland well wishers." Seth said as Dwayne put Hannah down. "What a long fucking day. I'm so glad its Friday."

"I'm super excited about this weekend!!" Hannah said clapping her hands together and leaning down and hugging Dwayne who had already sat down.

"Why? Are you two finally going to get giggy with it? Bow chicka bow bow."

"Why do you always assume that?" Hannah asked. "For your information, I'm just going to hang out at his house. Like I do every weekend because my house is a war zone."

"I don't think so…" Seth said and mid sentence he was cut off by Andy who had just entered the room.

"My fellow video game players, how are we on this average day?" Andy asked with a lot of Brava as he flung his bag onto the table with a loud thud.

"Where have you been?" Hannah asked as she dug around in her bag for her drawing notebook.

"Shaving my mustache." Andy answered indignantly, which was a total lie because he had shaved his stash off sometime last week. He had realized it looked less manly and more 'may I take your order.' "Where have you been?"

"I wasn't anywhere. I made it here on time." Hannah cooed.

"Like it matters, but you do really need to shave your mustache." Andy laughed before Hannah started yelling at him and smacking him around.

"Hey," Andy yelled between smacks, "I was only joking."

Hannah finally stopped hitting him and Seth and Dwayne clapped for her. She ignored them as she walked over to the paint table.

"Psycho chica," Andy said utilizing the only Spanish he knew besides cat, taco and that is not my donkey.

"Time to amputate." Hannah said walking back to the table with a wicked looking saw they used in Art to make there own frames.

"Oh shit." Andy said leaping from the stool he had just sat down on and running to the other side of the room.

"Don't be afraid, it won't bleed for too long." Hannah said walking after him to see that he had picked up a long metal ruler. It looked like they were about to have at it, but just then Mrs. Ives came out of her office so they put down there weapons and went back to there seats.

Hannah cuddled up next to Dwayne as she dug threw her bad for her markers.

"Mrs. I! Ives! Turn the announcements on!" Andy shouted as he sat down on the table next to his bag and faced the TV, his legs dangling off the end of the table.

Everyday at the start of the last period, the whole school was enlightened with the daily Tinstone Beat. Tinstone high schools news program made by that mornings radio/TV class. It was rather boring. You could hardly ever hear the news anchors, and 80 of the news was always about what sports was going on. But it did have weather, which was always worth a watch in case the person in front of the green screen wore the wrong color and the weather was on them. And occasionally an administrator would be on explaining the brand new, hot off the presses, what you're no longer allowed to do list. (Seth claims the list only began after he got here. Fact or Fiction? You decide. Coincidence, I think not.)

"Why don't you turn it on yourself? You can reach better than I can." Mrs. Ives said walking to the TV and standing on her tip toes to reach the TV that hung from the ceiling.

"I can't." Andy said. "My arms are broken." Andy said suddenly letting them fall limp to his sides. He wiggled them around as it he had no control over them.

"Aw, you pitiful thing." Mrs. Ives said sitting down at her desk at the front of the room.

The news had already started, but they had only missed the intro and weather. The kid on the screen was now talking away about the swim meet that was tonight.

"Yawn." Andy said lying back on the table so he could watch the news more comfortably.

"Get off my bag." Hannah said pushing him until she could grab her bad out from under him.

"You're a bit pushy today." Andy said, but Hannah didn't reply. She just snuggled against Dwayne as they watched the news unenthusiastically.

"Next Tuesday eighth period will be longer by twenty minutes to allow time for the yearbook staff to come around and take pitchers of those students who have yet to get there pitcher taken for the yearbook." The news anchor was saying.

"That would be me I guess." Hannah said.

"And me." Andy added. "I skipped out pitcher day, and re-take day. I could care less about being in that shitty book."

"They will also be giving out forms to those who have yet to purchase a yearbook. We now have a special message from Mrs. Lovett regarding next Tuesday." The news anchor said as they switched to there taped video of the journalistic writer teacher and also head of the yearbook staff, Mrs. Lovett.

"Those of you who eat pies," Andy began to sing.

"Mrs. Lovett's meat pies." Hannah sang along with him.

"Who wants to go see that movie this weekend?" Andy asked.

"I do." Hannah said.

"Shh, I'm watching TV." Seth said angrily.

"Shove it up your ass." Andy said but did shut his big mouth.

"…Also on Tuesday we will be handing out these five dollar off coupons that will take off five dollar on your purchase of a yearbook." Mrs. Lovett was saying.

"Are you serous?" Seth said loudly. Andy turned his head and looked over at him. "You mean a five dollar off coupon takes five dollars off. I thought it would only be 3.17 cheaper."

_Shut up Seth_

"Why don't you shut up? I'm in a state of shock right now." Hannah giggled as Seth played up his little act. Needless to say none of them were watching the announcements any more. "It's like a koala bear has just crapped a rainbow in my brain."

Hannah laughed as Dwayne handed her his notebook.

_Do you really want to go to the movies this weekend?_

"Sure. Let's go see Sweeney Todd."

"I want to come." Andy said.

"Okay, it'll be a group thing. Seth, do you think you and Amanda will want to come?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah. She's actually been begging me to take her. I could really care less, but I think this well be funnier."

"Yeah," said Andy. "You girls can swoon over Johnny Depp and we can make fun of his monster movie hair and bad acting."

"Johnny Depp is a great actor." Seth said. "I'm not gay, but I would go gay for him. Ahhh…" Hannah giggled but she secretly knew Seth wasn't kidding.

"Get off the table!" Mrs. Ives yelled at Andy from her desk. Andy groaned as he sat up and slid off the table to sit on a stool.

"I'm ashamed of you." Andy said to Hannah.

"You're horrible." She quickly retorted. She was used to the game of insults he always liked to play with her. It always started out the same way and ended with who could be the loudest.

"No one likes you."

"Your fat."

"You're ugly."

"Fatty."

"Fugly."

"Slut!"

"Whore."

"SLut!"

"WHore!"

"SLUT!"

"WHORE!"

"SLUT!!!!!!"

"SHUT UP!" Seth yelled.

"I win!" Hannah said happily. (Isn't it funny how oblivious they are to the whole class room staring at them, and Mrs. Ives is oblivious to everything else?)

"Why don't you ever swear Hannah?" Seth asked.

"I don't know. I just don't." She replied.

"Come on. Do it just once." Hannah shrugged. "Call Andy a fucker."

"Fucker…" Hannah said in such a little girl voice that it made them all laugh.

"Hannah can I use your CD player?" Andy asked.

"Sure." Hannah said taking it out of her bag. "But if you get it taken away by a principal I'm going to hurt you."

"Fair is fair, but I'm good. They never catch me." Andy said taking it from her and opening it to check what CD was inside.

"But what about that one time?" Seth asked as Andy put the headphones on.

"Shut up." Andy said shaking his head as he hit play.

"Or what about that other time?" Seth said but Andy was off in lala land so he didn't hear him. Just then Hannah slid off her chair and onto the floor.

_What are you doing?_

"I slipped." Hannah said giggling and crawled under the table. Dwayne looked under the table to see her sitting there giggling.

"Are you drunk?" Seth asked looking under the table also. Hannah just giggled.

Dwayne and Seth looked at each other and shook there heads as they went back to what they were doing, which was nothing. They looked over at Andy and suspected that he hadn't noticed Hannah had disappeared because he had his head down on the table and they could both hear the music.

-----

It was nearing the end of class and Hannah was still taking refuge under the table with all of her things because she was afraid Seth would do something to them, although she knew Dwayne wouldn't let him get away with it. She called it her cave and had taken it upon herself to draw on the cave walls. And by 'cave walls' she meant Andy's shoes. He still hadn't noticed and both Dwayne and Seth were having a good laugh about it.

Hannah was leaning up against Dwayne's legs and reading and she was getting bored. So she put her book up and started tickling Dwayne behind his knees. It was so funny to watch him jump, and then writhe around trying to get her to stop.

She didn't stop until he slid off his chair and was on the floor with her. She pulled him under the table with her where she started kissing him.

"What are you crazy kids doing under there?" Seth asked looking under the table.

"None of your business!" Hannah said and when his face disappeared she grabbed his leg making him jump.

"That's it!" He said reaching under the table and grabbing her jacket.

"Hey!" She yelled smacking at his leg and trying to reach up and grab it but it was too far away.

"Nope, it's too late." Seth said.

Hannah began to crawl out from under the table and her hand came across a wad of tape. She picked it up as she kneeled on the floor and looked over the table at Seth. "Here, I found this on the floor. EAT IT!" She said hurling it at Seth who caught it and flung it back at her. He missed because she ducked under the table. Dwayne was now crawling out, carrying her jacket.

"Hey!" Seth said standing up and looking around when he noticed the jacket was gone. Then he saw Dwayne giving it back to Hannah as he stood up. Hannah hugged him with delight and Dwayne stuck his tongue out at Seth as the bell rang.

"Bye, see you all on Monday." Mrs. Ives said as people cleared out. Hannah had to crawl back under the table to get all of her things and Andy sat up, handing Dwayne the CD player.

Seth was already gone by the time Hannah had all her things together.

_Just look at how filthy you are._

"I guess we'll just have to take a shower when we get home." Hannah said, kidding of course, as she stood on her toes and kissed Dwayne.

"You guys sicken me." Andy said standing up and stretching. "What the hell happened to my shoes? There pink!"


	31. Superfreak

**Authors Note: So sorry about not getting anything posted in forever. So so unbelievably busy. Gosh-a-rooney!! Just as a **_**Warning**_**, slight Sweeney Todd spoilers, so if you don't want to know skip the second paragraph. You have been **_**Warned**_**. Now, this is one of those chapter that makes this an M rated story, not like I haven't crossed that line before, but I'm just saying. Now, Enjoy!**

"Shut up fatty!" Hannah yelled at Andy as they entered the Art room on Tuesday of the next week.

They had indeed gone to the movies, (but I refuse to write that few hours that was filled with popcorn grease, sticky floors, and constant bickering involving swearing. Sorry. Use you_ imagination_ (insert rainbow here)) A rather uneventful night all over except that it sparked the great debate between Amanda and Hannah about weather or not Johnny Depp is ugly. (I'm not saying who is on which side, to protect them more than anything.) The only other eventful thing is that now Hannah is constantly singing Sweeney Todd show tunes and is driving Dwayne slowly insane (twitch). Especially with By the Sea. She likes to tell him they could be like Mrs. Lovett and Mr. Todd, but only if he promises not to shove her in an oven. Because that would hurt her feelings, of course.

"I just think you and Dwayne need to be a little more discreet. Not everyone needs to see that kind of National Geographic love." Andy said back.

"I do not look like those nakie women. My boobs aren't that big."

"Yeah, that is a shame."

"You're dead Fat Boy!" Hannah screamed as she started wailing on Andy, at first with her fists and then with her small backpack.

"Break it up you two." Mrs. Ives said in a dull droll as she turned the page of the magazine she was reading.

"Get off me." Andy said as Hannah continued to wail on him. In the end Dwayne had to physically drag Hannah away from Andy.

"Don't you ever come near me again faggot!" Hannah screamed as Dwayne held her back.

"Jesus Christ, calm down superfreak." Seth said standing up as he crushed a sheet of paper between his hands and then threw it at the trash can. Miraculously it made it in. "Sweetness, two points for me."

"Let go of me!" Hannah yelled as Andy stalked off to the other side of the room and sat himself down at an empty table and laid his head down. Hannah went and picked up her bag off the floor as Dwayne wrote hurriedly on his notepad.

_Are you okay. Rly?_

"Yes, yes, but if he comes near me again he is DEAD!"

"Want me to kick his emo ass for you? I like the guy okay, but for you, its GO time." Seth said punching his hand a few times.

"No Seth, I can beat people up myself. Just look at these guns." Hannah said flexing what no muscle she had.

"You know you need a permit to carry those." Seth laughed. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No, I could care less about his stupid problems. He just needs to get over it." Hannah said dropping her bag on the table with a loud thud. Dwayne pulled Hannah into a large hug that meant more than anything he could say. No pun intended.

"So what's he mad about, other than the fact that he likes you and can't have you. Don't look at me like that. We all knew it." Seth said blatantly. Hannah sighed loudly and sank into her stool. She had never really thought about that, but now it was painfully obvious. She had been blinded by her love for Dwayne. For her he was the only one could see. But she wasn't up for much sympathy, she wasn't risking anything just to make him feel better. She had played with Dwayne's emotions too much in the past to give even a little slack on the link that binded them. Besides, Andy was a bit of an asshole. A bit is a good phrase.

When Hannah looked up she saw Dwayne still standing where he had been and she could visibly see that he had his jaw clenched tightly. "Dwayne, come sit." Hannah said patting the stool next to her. It took him a few seconds but he obeyed her and succumbed to her demand. When he sat down next to her she wrapped her arms around him tightly and squeezed him. She then kissed the base of his neck and whispered 'I love you' to him.

She knew he needed it, even if he never said.

"I think the mood needs to be lightened a bit." Seth said sitting on the edge of the table. "So, you two, have you done it yet?" They both just looked at him. "You know what I mean. Knocked boots, got nasty, got giggy with it. How many more euphemisms do you need me to use before you two get that I'm asking if you two have fucked yet."

_Yeah, I like how the things you say are never blunt._

"Yeah, its good isn't it. So?" Seth said not getting the sarcasm.

"Why is that the only thing you ever want to talk about?" Hannah asked.

"Because because because, can I give you two some advice?" Seth said dropping to his feet and facing the two of them from the end of the table.

"If we said no, would it stop you?" Hannah said under her breath.

"I heard that. Now condom advice, don't use one."

"Isn't that the opposite of everything we've ever been taught." Hannah asked not really wanting to hear what was to follow.

"When you use one it's kind of like this…" Seth said and then began to hump the table. "Oh yeah… right there… oh baby…" Seth said with absolutely no emotion in his voice. "Without it's like this." Seth said and Hannah covered her eyes but she should have plugged her ears instead because Seth's sex noises were probably 50 times more mentally scaring. And the fact that he was humping the table so hard that it was moving across the floor didn't help either.

Why was she friends with these people? But the things that made her question this were also the exact reasons she was friends with these people. Who else did these kinds of things? Honestly?

_Seth, shut the fuck up and sit down._

"Maybe I will, and not because you said so, but because that is the end of lesson 1 in a series of… 17."

"Yay, only 17." Hannah said.

"You didn't let me finish! 17… thousand!!"

"Ugh!"

"Dealt out over a lifetime. Now that will be 14.99. Thank you come again."

_I'm not paying for that._

"Especially since were never ever going to use your advice."

"Why?" Seth asked from his seat across from them as he leaned closer to them resting on his elbows.

"I may never have sex. I haven't decided yet." Even though she was looking at Seth she saw in her peripheral vision Dwayne's head whip in her direction. It was so hard to keep a straight face.

"Hear that Dwayne. You're stuck to this." Seth said and then began to laugh as Dwayne struggled to keep his mouth shut, and also try to figure out what words to write.

They didn't get around to discussing this topic further because just then the kids from the yearbook showed up. These kids were unmistakable for anyone else because they all carried stacks papers to hand out and at least one of them hand a camera hung around there neck. Not to mention the fact that they were all the sub breed of preps if they weren't full bread and athletic also.

Even though nearly the whole class was looking at the aliens, they approached Mrs. Ives first and spoke to her quietly.

"Hey! Listen up everyone! The yearbook staff is here and they need your attention!" said Mrs. Ives before she went back to doing what she had been doing.

"Okay," said the boy with the camera and the curry hair. "We have a few people that still need there picture taken for the yearbook. Reminder, this your last chance to get in the yearbook."

"Today we are also handing out coupons for the yearbook that will take five dollars off the regular cost of 65 dollars." The dark haired girl standing next to the curly haired boy said.

"65 dollars is far too much to pay for such crap." Seth said right before the brown haired girl made it to there table to pass out the flimsy pieces of paper.

"60." Hannah corrected Seth as she smiled quaintly at the girl who was giving them dirty looks.

"Even then." Seth said.

"Don't forget there is only one week left to purchase your yearbook." Curly haired kid said. "Now, we need a picture of," the kid paused as he consulted his clipboard, "Hannah Eve." Hannah raised her hand with bored enthusiasm.

"Alright," the kid said walking over to them. "Now we need to find a blank space to take the pitcher. I'm never good at finding black spaces."

"How about in front of me." Seth said. "I'm a blank space."

_Isn't it the truth_

"How about the hallway." Hannah said standing as the boy gave Seth strange looks.

"Good idea," He said as they walked away. Hannah stood in front of a blank stretch of brick wall as the kid took her pitcher. As she reflected on her smile she thought she might have been too cheesy. But then again, she was never going to see it, so what the hell.

When they reentered the room she saw Dwayne ripping pages from his notebook and wading them up furiously before hurling them at Seth.

"Fine! I'll stop intervening. But when things go down the crapper, don't blame me. Don't ever ask me, 'why didn't you give me advice?' Because, what, I bloody tried to alright. Hey Hannah. We were just having a chat me and him. I think it went well."

"I'm sure it did." She said sitting down at the table.

"Andrew Krass." The camera kid said.

"Yonder." Seth said as the kid looked around. The kid didn't get it so Seth had to point. Miraculously Andy was sitting up and shaking his head no in the direction of the camera.

"Come on. You don't want to be in the yearbook?" The kid asked. Andy shook his head no more vigorously and put his head down again.

"You can take a pitcher of me." Seth said. "You can put it next to his name. I'm sure he won't mind."

The kid chuckled nervously and then went to the next name on his list. "Bailey Thompson."

"Seth, you're uncanny." Hannah said.

"Thank you."

Just then Mrs. Ives sat down with them at there table. "So what is going on between you and Andrew?" She asked a bit concerned. Where was this earlier?

"He's being a LOOSER! That's what's going on." Hannah said simply.

"I always thought you two got along very well."

"I'm just getting tired of his bad attitudes and rude comments. It's funny and tolerable for a while, but I realized he was being a bit too serious."

"I think you should talk to him. He looks distraught."

"He'll look ever more distraught after I give him a paper cut and pore lemon juice on it!"

"I think you need to cool off a little bit. Give it a day or two and you two will be thick as thieves again. I mean he looks sorry." Hannah stuck her tongue at the air and made a sour face.

"So what else is up with you all?" Mrs. Ives asked.

"The ceiling, the sky, and sometimes airplanes." Seth replied.

"Your are all very amusing bright kids. And when you actually work, you make beautiful art. I don't always understand it, but who am I to judge?" She said as she got up to move on to another table of kids.

The rest of Art was pretty much uneventful. Seth tried to persuade the curly haired boy that the coupons wern't worth just five dollars off but 35 because the art work on the coupon was a bunch of little fives, and guess what, they added up to 35. The boy didn't really know what to say, and his only counter argument was that it was only worth five, that was the way it was.

After the strangers left Dwayne and Seth played Tennis. (Tennis is where you hold on to each others hand, like arm wrestling, and then repeatedly slap each others hand in turn and see who lets go first.) Needless to say it was Dwayne. You kind of buckle after ten minutes and you think your good writing hand is broken. After that they kind of did nothing and Andy got a bit brave and started flipping them off whenever they looked over at him. Also unnecessary to say was that Seth could play that game too. In fact all of them could.

Like always the bell rung far too late for there liking and they all rushed for their freedom. When Dwayne and Hannah were alone, Dwayne started trying to write to her but kept seething in pain whenever he even closed his hand around the pen. All that he got written was; _Did you really m…_ before Hannah stopped him.

"I didn't mean what I said earlier. Don't worry. But I do think it got Seth off our backs. At least for a week."

Dwayne crafted some highly sophisticated facial movements to express himself and to also save himself from the pen. Hannah nodded in agreement as they held hands as they walked out of school together.


	32. Ethan

**Authors Note: I hope you like this one. I really liked writing it. Enjoy!**

"No, please spare me." Hannah said.

"But it's the coolest thing ever!" Seth exclaimed excitedly grabbing Hannah's arm and shaking her vigorously.

It was fifth period English and all day Seth had been going on and on about some little thing he wanted her to see. Dwayne had already seen it apparently because every time Seth mentioned it, Dwayne shook his head and laughed. Dwayne was currently collecting the large red text books and Hannah had no boyfriend protection and she was currently out of distractions and shinny objects.

"No, no, no! It's going to be something gross and perverted. No."

"It's not gross or perverted. I promise."

"Your such a liar."

"No, come on, look." Seth said lifting up his shirt to reveal a mid drift showing pink fish net shirt underneath.

Hannah couldn't help laughing as she said, "I didn't need to see that."

"Course you did!" Seth replied lowering his shirt. "I plan on walking home today with just this on."

Hannah was jarred from the conversation when Dwayne dropped three mammoth sized books on her desk at once. She was surprised the desk didn't break.

"Are we taking the text books with us today." Hannah asked passing Dwayne a book.

_Looks like it._

"Fuck." Seth said taking one. "This school is trying to kill us. These things are far too heavy. They have got to be violating some kind of codes here."

"Like fire ordinances?" Hannah asked. Dwayne laughed at her. Hannah often said things that were completely inaccurate. "Shut up!" Hannah said pushing Dwayne's arm.

"No, she's right this time." Seth said. "Every time I even hear the words Henry David Thoreau, I want to burn something."

_Don't be mad at me._

"I'm not!"

_Is it hot in here or is it just you?_

Hannah awed as Dwayne sat down in the seat in front of her and turned around to face her. "You're the apple of my eye." Dwayne smiled brightly and wrote her another note.

_Well, you're the motion in my ocean._

"Aw, well, you're the wind in my sail." Seth made a gagging sound as he leaned over to read Dwayne's writing. Hannah grabbed a hold of Dwayne's face and almost petted him before she leaned close to him and they rubbed their noses together giving each other Eskimo kisses. Which as far as they were concerned they couldn't get in trouble for this kind of public display of affection. Still, Dwayne couldn't help leaning in and giving her a quick peck.

"You guys are disgusting."

_You're just mad because you're not the sugar in our lemonade._

Dwayne wrote throwing his notepad at Seth before grabbing Hannah up in a tight hug and they both looked at Seth with one of those typical cheesy couple smiles.

"You're sickening you know that. Revolting." Seth said tossing the notebook back at them.

"Give me another one." Hannah said tugging on Dwayne's arm. He signed as he smiled and quickly wrote another.

_I hope you know CPR because you take my breath away._

Hannah awed as Seth made a gagging sound. "I've got one for you two love birds. If you were a booger, I'd pick you."

-------

"You cannot stop me now Robin Hood! Mwahahaha!!!!" Ethan cackled madly at the end of his lines.

Hannah was in her Drama class and they were currently practicing a Robin Hood play they were thinking of performing for the school.

"Why can't I be Robin? I'm such a horrible villain." Ethan said as he sat down on the stage before sliding off and onto the floor.

"But you have such an excellent evil laugh." Hannah said walking by him and pinching his cheek.

"Yeah, but I use that in everyday life, because I'm evil. I am Satan you know." Ethan joked. Hannah laughed. Ethan was a junior and the only other boy in Drama class besides Zack and Chris.

Hannah didn't know if it was wrong or not, but she had the slightest crush on Ethan. Innocent flirting isn't cheating, is it? Just thinking isn't a crime. But it was only slight crush, it would never go anywhere. Hannah wouldn't let it. No matter how nice Ethan's fluffy hair looked with a pencil or pen shoved behind his right ear, constantly. She loved Dwayne and that was that. But Ethan's brown fluffy hair was so cute.

Ethan was a lot shorter than Dwayne and was in fact as tall as Hannah. He always wore plain clothes and usually a button up shirt which he left hanging open over a plain T-shirt. Ethan was also very full of himself. Want to know how full? Well, he let Hannah proof read a paper for his English class and the topic was most influential person in your life, and guess what, he picked himself.

"In that case all you need to do is act naturally." Ethan laughed as he followed her to the middle of the rows of seats where everyone was congregating except for Zack who had already been written up in the first five minutes of class for swearing like a sailor, loud enough for everyone to hear and then calling the teacher a whore to her face. Everyone knew he just wanted to sleep in the advisement center. This was his fifth referral this week he said and also his personal best, he boasted as he left. And it was just Wednesday. Would he his new record this week? Hannah didn't think so. She had this strange feeling he would 'over sleep' the next two day.

Jamie also wasn't sitting with everyone else. They always watched movies and plays to 'study' great acting, and none of the rest of them paid any attention and instead talked the whole period on days like these. Jamie thought this vile and gross behavior and thought it even worse that teacher did nothing to stop them. On days they had subs she tried extra hard to get the rest of them in trouble.

"So what exciting things have happened to you today?" Ethan asked over the _wir_ of the large screen lowering on stage. He stopped at the end of the row they were about to enter and gestured her to go first. Ethan was always such a gentleman.

"Well, in my English class my boyfriend and I were having a competition of cheesy pick up lines. It was pretty funny."

"I know plenty of pick up lines."

"Pick up lines?" Colleen asked.

"You mean like, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" Chris asked as he knelt on the seat he was sitting on to look back at them.

"If I said you had a great body, would you hold it against me?" Amanda asked Chris who was sitting next to her.

"Oh, you know it girl." Chris said grabbing her up in a hug. –FYI Fact: Chris is gay. End FYI Fact-

"My personal favorite is you must be from another planet because your body is out of this world." Katie said coming in and sitting down on the other side of Ethan.

"Hey, I'm the king of pick up lines. I can come up with better ones than the rest of you put together." Ethan boasted.

"Want to bet?" Chris asked. This is basically what they did every day. Someone would bet someone else they couldn't do something and then they had a competition over it.

"How much?"

"A fiver."

"Done. Ground rules?"

"Two minutes, how many can you do? Eh? Also based on creativity so don't do the ones we hear all the time." Chris began to look at his watch waiting for the second hand to roll around to the top. Meanwhile Ethan rolled up his sleeves and began rubbing his hands together with a devious smirk on his face. "Go!"

"Without the sun you'd be the hottest thing in this universe. Did the sun come out or did you just smile at me? Do you know karate, because your ass is kickin'? Um…"

"One minute…" Chris announced.

"Shit, uh, do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again."

"That one sucked." Amanda said.

"Shut up! Do you want to be the Marian to my Robin Hood?"

"Fifteen seconds…" Amanda announced.

"Ugh!!!"

"10! 9! 8!" Everyone started counting.

"I've got the winner. If I were a pirate you'd be my treasure." Ethan said looking right at Hannah.

"Time!" Chris announced as all the girls awed at Ethan's cute little line.

Isn't he darling? What's even worse about this situation is that his last name is Krass. Indeed he is Andrew's older brother. Shocking. Astounded. It took Hannah forever to figure out because the two of them couldn't be more different.

When Hannah finally made this connection, she shared her findings with Dwayne and Seth. She would never forget that conversation in English a few days before.

"I didn't know emo Andy had a brother." Seth told her when she asked him about it.

"You must know him. Ethan. Round face, somewhat long brown hair. Dresses formally. Ringing any bells?"

"No… wait. He's on the shorter side… I know who you're talking about. I forgot about him because I never see him. He's a grade above us. In fact, I've only seen him once."

"When was that?" Hannah asked. Dwayne and Seth both began to laugh. "What is it?"

"First and last time I saw him was the time he beat up Andy on the front lawn with the whole school watching. You remember Dwayne. I think Andy had been talking real trash about him for awhile and Ethan finally snapped and tackled him on the front lawn. And then he…" Seth couldn't continue because he was laughing so hard.

"What? Did he hit him? Did Mr. Campbell tackle them? I know he does that whenever he stops a fight. What?"

"He didn't hit him. I know their parents and Ethan would have gotten in so much trouble if he actually hit Andy. But he did much better than that."

"What?"

_He pinned Andy to the ground and actually made him eat dirt. It was hysterical._

------

It was now nearing the end of Drama class and most of the others had run out of interesting things to say to one another and had now fallen into the lapse of homework or resorted to watching the old Errol Flynn Robin Hood on the large screen. But not Hannah and Ethan.

"What do you think about them tights? Ow!" Ethan said.

"I think there quite stylish. You should get some." Hannah replied.

"No way. You should get some for you boyfriend. I'm sure he'd enjoy it."

"Do you have a brother named Andrew?" Hannah asked because she had never formally asked him. She defiantly couldn't ask Andy about it. It had been three weeks since they'd spoken. Andy liked to hold grudges and so did Hannah.

"Yeah. Why? Do you know my dark and brooding brother?" Ethan asked turning to her in the dark.

"Yes, unfortunately."

"That's how I feel 99 of the time."

"I was friends with him for a bit but then I just realized he was really a loud mouthed idiot." Ethan laughed. "I heard you two got in a fight last year."

"Which one. My brother and I get in a lot of fights. Nearly every week over something."

"The one where you made him eat dirt on the front lawn in front of the whole school." Ethan began laughing to himself.

"Good times."

"What did he do?"

"He kept spreading lies about me to a lot of people. I'd had enough of it so I taught him a lesson by embarrassing him in front of the whole school. That's the first time we've ever fought at school. I think it will be the last too. He learned his lesion, although we still fight at home all the time and I always win. So, what did my brother do to you?"

"Just saying rude things. Being rude constantly. He likes to pick fights doesn't he?"

"Yeah, he does. Do you want me to beat him up for you?"

"No. I smacked him around a bit when he crossed the line. I can fight my own battles. I'm no damsel in distress."

"Well, that's good. But that won't stop me from roughing him up a little extra the next time he pisses me off." Ethan said showing off his pearly whites. Oh, what was Hannah going to do?


	33. Keyblade Part 1

**Authors Note: As always I'm sorry for being such a lazy log and taking so long to update. In the words of my good friend India, 'Hard work pays off later, laziness pays off now.' Very true and wise and also why I've been procrastinating this chapter like crazy. All the same, I hope it was worth the wait. I apologize in advance for the first part. I couldn't decide whose perspective it should be in because in this part Hannah and Dwayne both have validity in their thoughts, so bear with me. Your all smart, I'm sure you can figure out whose thinking what here. **

"It's insane!"

"No, it's brilliant!"

"Your insane. I'm not doing it."

"We'd have lots of fun."

"You're lying."

It was Monday in lunch and Seth was trying to convince Amanda to go to the Snowball Dance with him. Hannah and Dwayne had already gotten their tickets to the dance. The dance was Saturday and Hannah and Dwayne were uber pumped.

Dwayne was oblivious to the reason why Amanda was being an utter bitch to Seth lately, but Hannah knew. It's a girl thing with you can since when a break up is about to occur. Although you can never predict your own, which kind of sucks. Amanda and Seth were over, and Hannah wondered weather it would be tomorrow or a week from now when it would finally happen. But it would, she was sure of it.

"It will be a blast! Come on!"

"Leave it, or you'll regret it." Amanda warned Seth.

Seth sighed and Dwayne and Hannah looked at each other. Dwayne gave Hannah a forced grin that almost seemed like he was in pain from being on the outside of the electric minefield of his friends relationship. Hannah tried to smile back quaintly, but it didn't really work out that way. You always feel guilty when someone else's relationship is falling apart and you're doing well in yours.

Hannah and Dwayne could both see that Seth was bursting at the seems, beside himself, unable to hold in his comments. Here we go, Dwayne thought.

"Just think about it." Seth blurted out. Amanda took her tray and got up from the table quickly and stalked off. Only Hannah and Dwayne watched as she dropped her tray in the trash bin with vigor before she stalked from the lunch room.

"What is wrong with her? Everything I say, I swear there is no pleasing her." Dwayne shrugged as Hannah piled there trash on her tray. "She's going to Alaska next month and will be gone for two months. Maybe that's what it is." Hannah writhed uncomfortably in the seat next to Dwayne as she turned her attention on a small pool of water that had collected on the table from one of their milk containers. Boys.

_Really, that does sound like reason to be a bit, ehhhhhh… you know what I mean._

"Yeah. Girls are nuts. What are you doing?" Seth asked Hannah who was now trying to write words out in the water.

"I think the water is trying to say something. I'm just helping it along." Hannah replied.

"Oh really. I know what its saying."

"What?"

"I want to sex your dad."

"WHAT!! Where did that come from?"

Dwayne bit down on his lip not really wanting to know where this all was going. Half that and half trying not to scream with laughter.

"You heard me."

"You're insane."

"That's what its saying. Screaming out in space, I want to sex your dad… dad… dad... Can't you hear it?" Seth said trying to emulate the typical space echo.

Dwayne's seen Hannah's father and a mental image started creeping into his brain.

"Stop it! You're being gross."

"I want to sex your DAD!!"

Mental images, twitch twitch. Hannah's dad was a stiff man. Orderly. Probably subscribed to tweed monthly. Just the thought of water wanting to sex him made his skin crawl and also laugh uncontrollably at the same time. He actually had to lay his head down on the table he was laughing so hard.

_I think you should tell your dad to stay away from water. No more showers for him._

"I think your right. Seth, how do you come up with these things?" Hannah asked, laughing also despite herself.

"They just come to me." Seth said tapping his fingers in the water before he began flicking water droplets at Dwayne and Hannah.

_Don't make us run out on you too._

"You would never do that to me, old friends."

Yeah right, Hannah thought. Whose nuts now.

"Oh, I just came up with something aMaZiNg!"

_If it's disturbing we don't want to hear it._

"Would I ever say anything like that?"

"What was that conversation just two seconds ago?"

"Brilliant conversation starters for the doubtful gent."

"You are mental."

"Now here it is… hold on to your seats."

"More like get ready to run," Hannah whispered to Dwayne.

"Pirates and Ninjas. The epic battle for all of the cheese in the universe. New video game coming to a store near you, never. Your only weapon; a flame thrower and karate moves. Rated N for Ninjas." Seth said and then looked very proud of himself.

_What the hell is that supposed to mean?_

"I haven't got the foggiest. Maybe it's the thing that will prove String Theory."

_You can't prove string theory_

"I know." Seth said in a lower tone.

You see Seth really believes in String Theory. No one knows why, not even Seth. By a poll of various Tinstone High School students (Just Hannah and Dwayne), the consensus is that Seth doesn't even know what String Theory is. When asked to enlighten everyone else on what String Theory is he recommends auto cassettes and books by various scientists. When one looks up Fredrick Fangleton, one will find he doesn't exist and never wrote the book; String Theory and the Tropical Level Two Storm. What a pity.

"You must admit it is pretty clever though."

Hannah and Dwayne just shook their heads and laughed.

--

"I've got something to put in you, at the gay bar, gay bar, gay bar!" Seth sang as he walked down the hall with Hannah and Dwayne. They were going to there next to last period of the day. Hannah to Drama class and Seth and Dwayne to World History. Just two more classes and Dwayne was done for the day. Boy-O was he happy.

"Seth, can you at least try to be normal for two minutes." Hannah said, and Dwayne noticed she was looking down the hallway as if she was looking for someone. Very curious.

"I can't be normal, you know that." Seth said.

"I'm just asking for a sliver of normality. Just once. I think it would be refreshing and good for us all." Dwayne noticed Hannah scoping the halls again. What is up?

_What is this about?_

"Yeah, home fry, chilly cheese dog, hash browns and flap jacks. You know you can tell us anything." Seth said wrapping his arm around her.

_Anything…_

"You guys are crazy, nothing is wrong. Just leave it, you know I love you guys just the way you are."

"Aw, you hear that Dwayne, she loves me. Me, what up!!"

_You want to go?_

"Yeah, let's go! Let's dance, Mo-Fo!"

"Do you want to get slapped in the face, both of you? Stop it."

"Oh yeah, you know I like it dirty."

"Ahhhh!!"

"Are you having lady problems?"

"Will you shut up?" Hannah screeched without opening her mouth.

"I see, sexual frustration. Nothing to be ashamed of. Dwayne, I can clearly see that you need to star putting out. Don't argue with me. Maybe if you dressed up like one of those French maids. A feather duster would be a nice touch."

It was now Dwayne's turn to feel embarrassed, but Hannah no longer was as she imagined him dressed up in the way Seth described. Dwayne even began to blush as Seth started humping the air making sexual noises and moaning loudly.

They had made it to where they went in separate directions, and Seth was still being vulgar. Although Hannah had stopped caring about normality and hugged Dwayne goodbye as she tried to ignore Seth.

"Will you stop being disgusting, at least while I say goodbye to Dwayne?"

"You're going to see him in like 45 minutes. What's the BFD?"

"Your face!"

"Well…. Your… face…"

"Great come back." Dwayne saw someone walking towards them out of his peripheral. But he ignored it to begin with.

"I know, it's good isn't it?"

"Brilliant!" Hannah said as a boy in a blue button up shirt and a poof of brown hair walked real close to them and poked Hannah in the arm before walking off casually down the hall but not without first glancing back at Hannah and giving her a charming smile that would make anyone of the female race swoon. The boy reached up and adjusted the pencil behind his ear just as he turned and walked off. Dwayne wanted to hurl. How could this guy think he was charming? But when Dwayne looked over at Hannah she was still smiling widely in the boys direction.

"I'll see you guys later." Hannah said quickly pecking Dwayne on the cheek and running off after the strange boy yelling 'wait up!' He waited for her and they both walked off chucking together.

_I don't like him._

"Me either. You better watch out Dwayne. Looks to me like you've got some competition." Dwayne nodded still looking down the hall towards the hallway Hannah had turned down. "I'd say break out the feather duster." Dwayne smacked Seth as hard as he could in the arm.

--

"You can't be serious." Hannah said to Ethan about fifteen minutes into class. They were supposed to be doing a worksheet, but they weren't. To be truthful, no one was. The teacher never graded them. She just gave it to them to keep them busy.

"I'm not lying." Ethan said shoving the pencil he had been writing with behind his ear. Ethan really was the only one who ever did the text work.

"I can't believe your brother told your parents he was bi."

"Yeah, it was pretty hilarious." Ethan said laughing at his memories. "He kind of yelled it at them when they were having this big argument about his grades. Let's just say they were no longer worried about three F's."

"I can't believe it. Is he really bi?"

"Nooo…" Ethan said laughing again. Ethan had a nice deep throaty laugh that was almost silent and pushed his cheeks up into his eyes so it looked like he was squinting. "He just told them that so they would leave him alone. They did, about the grades anyway."

"How did you hear all this? I thought you said that your parents sent you to your room when they argued with your brother."

"They did. My room is in the basement, and there is a pool table down there, and whenever they're yelling at him I stand on the pool table listening in. You can hear everything." Hannah began laughing uncontrollably. "What?"

"It's just I can imagine you standing on your pool table with a glass to your ear listening in." Hannah said laughing more. Ethan laughed with her.

"How's it going hobo pants?" Brittany asked as she came over to where they were only the row in front of them.

"Don't call me that." Ethan said defensively.

"Whatever you say, hobo pants." Brittany said jumping the seats and sitting on the back of one so she could talk to them at her ease.

Brittany is a wild child, which is really the nicer way to say she is insane. The simplest way to convey this image is imagine Seth's personality all shoved into this short uber skinny girl with paper straight black hair that went to her chin. She was often loud and was the kind of person to always start the conversations about sex or porn or any other weird nasty thing. So, Seth's personality exactly.

Ethan didn't care for her too much because he was the kind of person who wouldn't talk about those kinds of things and Hannah was sure Brittany made him uncomfortable. Her pet name for him is hobo pants because once he wore a pair of gray cargo pants that were made to look older with a bunch of strategically placed holes. Somehow Brittany made the connection that they looked like something a homeless person would wear and ta-da, hobo pants. Ethan despised her.

"So how's it hanging homies?" Brittany asked waving her arms around like a gangster.

"Pretty good, and you are not a gangster." Ethan replied.

"I'm more gangster than your grandma, Fo." Brittany said putting her feet up on the armrest that was between Ethan and Hannah.

"I'm sure you are." Ethan said. "Could you put your feet down? You know these are really old chairs."

"Why don't you make me hobo pants?" Ethan didn't respond. He wasn't the kind of person to do that. He was much too afraid of getting beaten up, by a girl, who was shorter than him.

"Ethan, tell her about what Andy did?" Hannah said trying to break them up.

"Emo Andy?" Brittany asked.

"Uh-Huh." Ethan replied. "So here we were Friday night and as you know report cards were mailed out on Wednesday. I'm sure you've gotten yours. I got straight A's. Back to the point," Hannah knew Brittany was already bored. She was watching Ethan as though she was listening, but Hannah knew when she was just zoning. She twirled her backpack straps between her fingers as she stared blankly at him. Brittany rarely took off her backpack and she also always wore this puffy brown vest that had a fur collar that made her look like she was ready to hit the slopes. Under that she always wore some kind of thermal shirt, usually with some kind of fluffy animals on it, or moose's. "He got three F's. Can you believe it? I can, but that's beside the point. Now, while my parents were yelling at him…"

"PENIS!" Brittany randomly yelled.

"Yeah, that's real cute behavior." Ethan said. "Real grown up."

"Just because you're a prude…"

"I'm not a prude it's just unseemly."

"You've got one."

"I know I've got one, what's your point."

"Then you shouldn't be such a prude. Don't be so proper, it's annoying. You've got a dick so be one."

"I don't find it necessary to act like the rest of the male species. Thank you."

"Are you gay?"

"NO! Where do you get this from?"

"The magical unicorns that deliver all of my thoughts on a unicycle."

"I think what you really need is some conventional therapy."

"You need to get laid."

"At least I will get laid someday unlike you. How does that make you feel?"

"Do you want me to castrate you with a butter knife?"

"I'd like to see you try."

"Yeah, I'd need a pretty big magnifying glass to find it."

"Will you two stop!" Hannah finally shouted.

"OhhhHhhh…." Ethan said ignoring Hannah. "That's real original."

"Hey Hey Hey!" Chris said walking over towards them with Amanda and Katie on his heels, Amanda with her head in a comic book. Zack had already passed out on the floor in row three. It was always typical, when one person left the group to talk to someone else, the rest followed eventually. Usually when they heard either too much laughing or swearing. "No fighting."

"You wanna go?" Brittany asked him trying to look threatening standing next to a gay guy who was at least 6 feet tall.

"Yeah, let's go to Taco Bell. Grab some burritos."

"Yes! Tacos are amazing. There the fruit of life. They make the world go round!"

"Anyone want some Swedish Fish?" Katie asked digging around in the bag of sweets. Immediately everyone converged on her. None of them could pass up sugar of any kind, except Ethan. But Hannah took pity on him before all the candy was gone and drought him back one.

"Thanks." Ethan said examining the little red fish thoroughly before biting the tale off, eating it slowly while reading from a book he had retrieved from his bag while all of there backs were turned. He made the rest of them look like pigs shoving an entire one into there mouths and quickly trying to chew the toffee like substance so they could consume another.

**Warning Kingdom Hearts Spoilers ahead, maybe**

"What you looking at?" Brittany asked Amanda but with some trouble because her teeth were sticking together because of the fish. Amanda held the book out and they saw it was Kingdom Hearts. "Ahhh!! I love Kingdom Hearts! Amazing video game. The first one was the best. The sequel was kind of stupid." Brittany said taking the book from her and looking threw it while diligently keeping her place.

"What didn't you like?" Katie asked.

"You see in the first one only Sora had a Keyblade, but in the second one suddenly everyone has a Keyblade. It's so stupid. Look at me, I have a Keyblade."

"My favorite character is Kairi." Amanda said looking over Brittany shoulder as she looked at her book.

"Aw, look at Mickey!" Hannah said also looking at the book. She wasn't a big gamer like the rest of them were, but she had played this one. "He's my favorite."

"Are you insane? He was my least favorite. He didn't do anything. I usually just let him die so I could play someone cool like Sora or Riku. But Sora's my favorite." Brittany continued as she handed the book to Hannah who wanted to look at it too.

"The ending of the first was crap though." Chris said.

"I know!" Brittany said loudly.

"What happened?" Katie asked. "I never finished it. I had to return it to the video store."

"It's like this. Sora and Kairi on some island or whatever and then the island splits right between them and they're all like Noooo!!" Brittany said mocking the way they would reach out for each other. "They did that forever even though the crack was tiny. They could have jumped, it was pitiful. They could have rolled over it, seriously."

"Yeah, they only did it like that so they could make a sequel." Amanda said.

"Yeah, and in the second the creators are like, let's give everyone a Keyblade!" Brittany ranted.

"You and your Keyblades." Chris said.

"You only wish you had a Keyblade as sweet as mine."

"Oh, you know it."

"It's a flower Keyblade and everything! Wicked awesome."

"Mines a chocolate Keyblade, what up?" Hannah said now sitting down on the other side of Ethan who was ignoring them all because he didn't play video games.

"Ugh! I wish I had a chocolate Keyblade. I'd eat it though." Brittany said sitting down on the other side of Hannah with Amanda next to her and then Chris with Katie on the end. Amanda had put away her book and was now drawing in her notebook.

"Did you all hear how badly our basketball team lost on Friday?" Chris asked. He was really the only one who cared about sports at all, and only because he had a huge crush on one of the guys on the team. A real pretty boy.

"They wouldn't have lost if they had a Keyblade." Brittany said finally taking off her backpack and taking out a bag of chips. "What are you drawing?" Brittany asked ripping open her mini bag of chips and eating one with a crunch.

"You in chibi form." Amanda said taking a chip out of the bag as Brittany offered it to her.

"I had better have a Keyblade."

"Don't worry, you will." Amanda reassured her as they heard Ethan laughing to himself.

"Listen to this," Ethan said turning to them and proceeding to read a long passage out of Taming of the Shrew. The only other sound while he was reading was Brittany slowly munching on her chips and Zack's far away yelps and swears as Jamie tried to wake him because she though it a disgrace.

Needless to say Ethan was the only one who found this interesting. Not that the rest of them didn't like Shakespeare. All of them knew at least a handful or two of quotes and they all did well in there English classes but they weren't as educationally involved as Ethan. Math on the other hand was defiantly not there strong suit. Raise you hand if you had to re-take Pre-Algebra. Good, good. (Ethan's hand is defiantly not up in this metaphorical head count.) As Brittany would say there is a time for Shakespeare and there is a time for Keyblades.

When he was done he continued to laugh and the rest of them stared blankly at him. Not that they didn't understand it, it's just Shakespeare's not really a laugh riot.

Brittany was the one to break the silence, of course. "I bet Shakespeare had a Keyblade."

"Sure he did." Ethan said disappointed as everyone else laughed and he went back to his book.

"You know Romeo and Juliet wouldn't have died if they had Keyblades."

"Will you please stop talking about Keyblades?" Chris asked. "You're driving me crazy!"

"Your dad has a Keyblade!"

_**(To be continued…**__**)**_


	34. Keyblade Part 2

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews. 100, wow! Sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter up. Don't beat me please!! Well, I hope you enjoy anyway. There are plenty of new twists, so I hope it was worth the wait.**

"Shut your face!!" Brittany yelled in the hallway and proceeded to hurl her math workbook at Chris. He ducked out of the way just in time. They both laughed.

There was just about fifteen minutes left of Drama class and the teacher had fallen asleep and so the class now had free reign to do what they wanted. Well, only because Jamie had to leave early. She wouldn't stand for such anarchy. Ethan really wasn't up for it much either, but he really wasn't a voice of revolt either.

They had moved there mini mob into the hallway because, like the Art room they were in a wing of the school all to themselves. The theater. Ahhh…. They were the only class ever down there the whole day so administrators never stopped by and only the kids who delivered passes came out down this far, and only when necessary.

Hannah suddenly ran into the hall through the backdoor of the stage where she and Ethan had been goofing off before. "I got his keys!!" Hannah silently squealed to Brittany.

"Rad!!" Brittany replied. There was a little game they all liked to play with Ethan. Everyday he played with his ring of keys by spinning them around of his finger and every so often they would fly off and everyone, especially Brittany, would try to get them before he did. No one had been successful, until now. "How did you get them?"

"He was spinning them around like usual and they flew backstage and I grabbed them. I don't think he knows I have them" Hannah squealed.

"Hannah!!" They heard Ethan holler for inside

"I think he knows." Brittany said.

"Go on, run." Chris said shooing her.

Hannah took off down the hall and quickly rounded the corner that lead directly into the main lobby for the theater. High ceiling and slick floors with flying buttresses and silver rusting water fountains. Amanda and Katie were sitting at on a solid wooden bench that was set against the wall right between the two sets of double doors that lead into the theater. The two had obviously heard the whole thing.

Hannah quickly looked around for a place to hide as she heard the backdoor of the stage crash open and Brittany yelling 'where's the fire'. Amanda and Katie already had it figured out for her though, and both lifted up there legs and motioned for her to get under the bench. Hannah didn't need to be told twice and once she was close to them slid on her knees and put her palms out to slow herself as she flattened out and went under the bench.

Amanda and Katie put there feet down just in time before Ethan came crashing into the room with Brittany and Chris behind him. Meanwhile Zack was sleeping peacefully on the floor inside the theater and dreaming or ninja piglets.

"What's the matter, did you loose your Keyblade?" Brittany asked.

Hannah was very thankful that Amanda was wearing a long skirt today and Katie her usual TRIP pants. Hannah could see threw a small crack that Ethan was looking all around for her.

"Where is Hannah?" Ethan asked.

"Who?" Katie asked.

"Ugh! She stole my keys, which way did she go?" Ethan asked in a stance that meant he was ready to take off again once he had directions.

"Haven't seen her." Amanda lied but from the look Hannah could see forming on Ethan's face, Amanda was silently motioning where she was hiding. She hoped it wasn't true, but back further against the wall just in case.

She saw Ethan's legs walk past Amanda and she heard the doors to the auditorium open and a few seconds later shut. That was a close one, they must have pointed that she went into the Theater. If only she was right.

Amanda and Katie both jumped to their feet and dashed away and Ethan dropped to his knees and looked under the bench at Hannah. "Give me my keys!" Ethan howled at Hannah. He wasn't mad per say, just a little annoyed.

"No!" Hannah squealed trying to back further into solid wall. Ethan started jabbing her in the sides with his fingers making her laugh. "Stop it!!" Hannah complained, but Ethan persisted to poke at her and try to wrestle his keys away. Hannah eventually saw her opportunity when Ethan's knees slid apart and she threw the keys between them and watched them slide all the way across the room.

Ethan growled in frustration and accidentally knocked his head on the underneath side of the bench when he tried to get up.

--

"Are you okay?" Hannah asked Ethan for the umpteenth time as she gently patted his head, running her fingers threw his fluffy dry hair.

The bell had just rung and Ethan and Hannah were standing in the hallway talking before going their separate ways. They usually didn't do this but today Hannah felt especially guilty for what happened to Ethan.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ethan said even though he didn't look very happy. He cracked his head pretty good on the bench and they were all surprised he was taking it so well. He didn't break the skin, and he said it just hurt a little, but as Brittany said, 'I think that broke the sound barrier. Even the aliens on Mars said what the hell? Are we being invaded?'

"You don't look fine." Hannah persisted.

"I'm superb. I just think I won't be diving under any hard wooden objects for awhile."

"That's probability a good idea." Hannah said.

"Ethan!!" Someone yelled. A tall gangly boy approached looking like he was bothered and in a hurry. "Ethan…" The boy complained. "Do you have an extra house key? I asked Andy and he told me to go fuck myself, which isn't nice to say to anyone?" The boy said directing the last at Hannah and pointing an accusing finger at her.

The boy had long brown hair that fell to his chin in thin waves and his bangs fell down bellow his eyes and almost to his nose. His eyes were a dusty gray/blue color and he had a slender sharp face. He wore a long black trench coat and dirty torn jeans beneath and a plain T-shirt. He was just as tall as Ethan and still going.

The boy, Hannah noticed, was also carrying a glass. A proper drinking glass, in his right hand.

"What is this new look of yours anyway?" Ethan asked.

"Vampire hunter. Now do you have an extra key or not Bill Nye?"

"Where is my twenty dollars?"

"Are you serious? You ass." The boy said as Ethan gave him a stern look. "You, hold this." The boy said handing Hannah the glass he was holding and Hannah saw it had about two inches a dark maroon liquid occupying its depth. It was actually glass too, and not plastic. Hannah sniffed the concoction as the boy dug around in his trench coat pockets and she had to pull away from it quickly. It had a rank sour smell that stung her nostrils.

The boy pulled out his wallet and sorted out Ethan's money while Ethan unhooked the key ring from his pants and flipped threw the keys before pulling the right one off.

"Take your dirty money." The boy said thrusting the wad of bills into Ethan's hand and grabbing the key. He took back his glass and took a swig of it and Hannah could visibly see his face pucker because of the sour taste. "Catch you later Ethanator." The boy said before bouncing off down the hall.

"Now, where were we?" Ethan asked as if nothing had really happened.

"Who was that?" Hannah asked with extreme curiosity. She didn't hold drinks for just anybody.

"My brother." Ethan said simply as if it were no big deal.

"Your brother? How many siblings do you have?"

"Only three. Two brothers, Andrew and Benjamin, and my sister, Julie. Andy is in your grade, Ben is a freshman and Julie is in 7th. Anything else you need to know about my life? Are you writing a novel?"

"I'm sorry, I was just curious. Your relations just keep popping up in the strangest places."

"Yeah, they do that quite often."

"Now what in the world was in that glass Ben was carrying?"

"I'm not too positive but it's a mixed drink he makes for himself in his cooking class. It's full of concentrated juices like lemon juice, grape juice, pomegranate juice, stuff like that. He made me try it once. It's quite potent. I don't know how he stands it."

"Are you sure your head is alright?"

"Yes…" Ethan sighed.

"I just feel bad."

"It's okay."

"Alrighty," Hannah said. "Just take care of yourself." Hannah said pulling him into a hug. He didn't hug her back but just squirmed uncomfortably and then patted her on the back hesitantly. Ethan wasn't a hugger.

"Will do… farewell." Ethan said before finally taking off in the direction of his last class. It was only after Ethan had departed that Hannah saw Dwayne and Seth coming and she knew exactly what he had just seen.

Dwayne's eyes were hard but still were forgiving. Hannah hoped, as she ran to him, that he would have amnesia and forget the whole thing. He didn't seem too placid about it and didn't write a thing about it and just asked how she was. She said great and Seth started blabbering on about his and Dwayne's 'fucking' World History teacher and how he had just assigned this huge project, and how he could just forget it because he wasn't 'fucking' doing it.

By the time they got to Art Hannah just wanted the day to be over!! I'm sure everyone can sympathize with that. But she was with her two favorite boys, even if they were a bit annoying at time. Well, just Seth. Dwayne was a doll.

"And to boot, I saw a massive cockroach in the gym earlier today. It was flying and everything wasn't it Dwayne? Tell her. It almost ate me, I swear." Seth was divulging about half way threw class. Dwayne didn't answer. He hadn't been very wordy for the past twenty minutes. All his concentration was on working on his World History homework, but Hannah knew there was more.

Hannah really wasn't paying that much attention though. She had been glancing over at Andy the whole period who was sitting on the other side of the room with Brittany and some other kid with a Mohawk and another kid with massive gages. It wasn't that she really wanted to look at Andy but she was mentally comparing his features to his siblings. Benjamin and Andy had the same kind of hair, she would suspect if Andy didn't dye his hair black and straighten it, which he only started doing lately, possibly to express his brooding teenage emotions. She wondered if Ethan ever went threw this faze. Dwayne and Seth started looking at her funny when she started laughing out loud.

Ethan was really the one who stood out the most among his relations. He was the shortest because Andy was taller and Hannah had a hunch that Ben was still growing. His hair was fluffier and thicker than the other two and his face was more round. One common similarity though, besides the brown hair that was a constant, was the fact that they all had the same nose. Quite cute it was really.

What the hell was she thinking?

She turned back to the conversation and couldn't help but share her new information. "Guess what I found out today."

"Balloons are made out of water." Seth guessed.

"No!"

"You said guess."

"Ugh! I found out that Andy and Ethan have another brother at this school."

"You're shitting me. Another Krass! Jesus, there parents liked to bang."

"They've got a sister too, but she's in middle school."

"Well, who is this mysterious boy that completes the Krass triangle of testosterone?"

"His name is Ben. I saw him today. He's quite like Andy, except he's a freshman."

"So he's emo too?"

"No, they just look a bit alike."

"How boring."

"Greetings and salutations." Brittany said as she randomly materialized at the end of the table.

"How do you do that? Every time." Seth said as he jumped back.

"It's because I'm compact. I fit easily into most overhead compartments."

"Who said you could talk to me?" Seth asked.

"I did. Hey, look at this." Brittany said holding up her hand and they all saw what looked like red dye all over her hand. "Blood, ahhh!!" Brittany said waving her hand in front of Seth's face. He jumped back automatically toppling the stool he had been perched on moments before.

"Just kidding, its just paint. But I did have you going." Seth started clapping for her. "What the hell are you doing monkey boy?"

"Just applauding your stupidity. It's really amazing they let you walk around without any kind of electronic tagging."

"Hardy har har. It is quite clever though! AIDs!!" Brittany yelled throwing her hand in front to Seth's face once more just as he was sitting down again.

"Yes, we all know you're rife with all kinds of diseases that will baffle the medical community."

"You have a magnificent speech impediment." Brittany told Seth.

"You look like a cheap stripper." Seth retorted while picking his nose.

"Speech impediment!" Brittany spat at Seth.

"What are you on about?" Seth asked.

"Is it your thing to give everyone a weird nick name?" Hannah asked.

"Taco." Brittany answered which was her way of saying yes.

"I happen to think my speech impediment is sexy." Seth said even though no one was listening to him anymore.

"I think I'll call you buttons." Brittany said to Hannah and then turned on Dwayne. "And you can be dubbed… man titties!!" Brittany said throwing her arms around and him and began groping his chest. Dwayne pushed her off of him.

_Those are mine, no touchy!_

"I think you'll find they belong to me." Hannah said throwing her arms around him. Dwayne seemed to like this.

By the way, this is basically the routine thing they went threw whenever Brittany decided to enlighten them with her presence. Brittany and Seth would bicker and then she would humiliate Dwayne and now comes the common ground for her and Seth.

"Hey, hey, hey." Seth said turning to Brittany. "I want to sex your dad!"

"I don't think that really deserved the preface; hey, hey, hey. Besides you can't get me because I have a Keyblade!"

"Mine is bigger."

"No way, my Keyblade is superior above all."

"One Keyblade to rule them all."

"You got that right."

Brittany and Seth began to chat while Dwayne worked on his essay for World History and Hannah leaned against his arm reading over his shoulder.

_Can you write out a conclusion for me? You write them better than me._

"Sure, what's the essay about?" Hannah asked.

_Constantine_

"Gotcha." Hannah said taking the paper and reading it over. Then an idea popped into her head. She handed the paper back to Dwayne after writing one sentence.

_WTF!!_

Hannah had written; In conclusion Constantine is the sexyness.

"I couldn't help it. I think it makes a smashing end to your paper." Dwayne just stared at her. "Fine, I'll change it."

In less than five minutes Hannah had written a proper conclusion to Dwayne's paper and he was putting away his things as Hannah idly flipped threw his text book. She flipped to the front cover and began to read the graffiti of past owners. Most of it was ink or pencil scratchings and sometimes so and so loves what's his face and other people's names. But wait…

"Why does your book say 'The sub is retarded'?" Hannah asked.

_It was there when I got it._

"It's kind of funny." Hannah said.

"Give it here. I like to read the stuff people write in textbooks." Brittany said and Hannah passed her the book.

"So how about that weather last night?" Hannah asked snapping her fingers at Dwayne. He didn't even crack a smile. "Come on, cheer up grumpy pants." Hannah said hugging him.

"Oh, my, God!" Brittany yelled.

"What?" Hannah and Seth both asked. Seth a bit more excited and grabbed the book from Brittany.

"I can't believe your book says Spank the Mailman! That is generous."

"Thank you, thank you." Seth said bowing.

"You wrote that?"

"Indeed."

"You never wrote that."

_He did._

"Where?" Hannah asked.

"Right under the sub is retarded." Brittany said pushing it towards her and pointing.

"Wait, wait…" Hannah said getting a pen out of her bag. She quickly wrote her contribution into the book.

"Your mom." Brittany read.

"Wait… wait…" Seth said. "Put it all together and it's even better." They all looked at him. "The retarded sub spanked your mom's mailman."

"Now that is classic." Brittany said laughing. "I've got to tell Andy this latest development." She said running off.

Dwayne tapped Hannah on the shoulder and she turned to him. He pointed after Brittany and then (with both hands) picked up a handful of his hair and made a face after Brittany. Hannah giggled at the way he looked. He let his hands drop although his hair still stuck up at odd angles, and he smiled at her.

"Aw, I love you Dwayne. You stud muffin!" Hannah said hugging him and kissing him all over his face.

"What about me?" Seth asked.

"No one cares about you."

"Hey!" Seth said grabbing one of the colored pencils she had been using and snapping it in half.

"Ohhhh… like I care, there not even mine, they're the schools."

"Nanannaana…" Seth said taking another and snapping it in half too. "Your green is next."


End file.
